Gypsy Dance
by Brooding Darkness
Summary: A businessman watches a dancer, and the results there-afterward. With complications and drama-galore! Part 16 up now! YaoiSlash. ExSy. ESy. Please R&R!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

**Gypsy Dance**

by Brooding Darkness

The candle light glittered off of the red and gold-threaded material as it gracefully fell around lightly tanned skin. Cotton and silk blended with the warm body underneath, giving off an appeal to the watchers in the room: more percifically to a pale young businessman, who had just had a particulary hard day at work.

Blue-grey eyes followed the flowing movements, as dark hair was swept away from the thin-framed glasses.

The dancer brushed an arm out towards the small audience in a large sweeping motion - and for a second, bright amber clashed with blue-grey orbs.

The moment, however, passed quickly, and the red see-through material allowed for the businessman to see the fine contours and etchings of a lightly muscled chest and abdomen; long, smooth arms stretched and curved around the pole, helping to move his sweat-slicked body; the cloth only thicker near the dancers nether-regions, but thinning out once more to reveal the long, slender legs.

Dark chocolate-brown hair accentuated the lightly flushed cheeks, and the businessmen swept his eyes over the beautiful dance, wanting him all the more. The dark, full lips that curved wonderfully in a slight smile. A hand moved slowly down the light material over his front, golden-bangled wrists making a light tinkling sound along with the bangles covering his ankles.

Wrapping both legs around the pole sexily, the dancer held his weight out evenly over the floor, before balancing his weight in a split right up the side of the pole.

Every person in the room stared, with breaths caught in their throats and almost embarrassing thoughts plowing through their minds at the sight of the dance, as the dancer swung himself around to the traditional music which was lost on all in the darkness of the night.

The businessman too, thought of all the things in which he would like to experience with the dancer, and he crossed his legs over, sipping at his drink.

As the dancer continued to slide around the pole erotically, the businessman could not help but think of an erotic gypsy dance.


	2. Part 1

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

"blah blah blah" speach  
/_blah blah blah_/ thoughts  
- - - - - - view change  
- time/scene change

**Gypsy Dance**  
by Brooding Darkness

**Part 1**

The businessman had almost finished his drink when he noticed that the erotic dancer from almost an hour before was talking to the bartender, dressed in a loose pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt, with a light denim jacket. The dancer was no longer smiling, but was rather scowling - almost glaring really - at the man stood behind the bar.

The lights flickered over the room, and the businessman stood, heading towards the door. Not a few moments later, Hiiragizawa Eriol was stood in the freezing cold of night - it was afterall 2:06 in the morning - in the dead of winter, in the business suit that he had worn to work, and snow was falling gently, cresting the streets in white.

It only took a moment to call a taxi, and since the agency was located just around the corner from the club, it should be here very soon. Eriol smirked, turning to face the door. Waiting.

And not for long, either.

The amber eyed dancer came out of the club a few seconds later, and rubbing his hands, he spotted the businessman watching him. Glaring, the dancer, turned on his heel and began walking away...

"Hey! Do you want to share a cab?" Eriol asked. The dancer faced Eriol abruptly, eyes glaring fiercely at the man.

"Why?"

Eriol was slightly surprised to recognise a chinese accent come from the dancer, and even more surprised at the tingling that warmed him from his head to his toes at just one word. "I thought that it would be the gentleman thing to do, since you seem to be walking home tonight." Eriol smiled mysteriously, although he knew that that would more than likely give off the wrong impression... he just couldn't help it.

The dancer continued to eye him harshly, even while replying. "Which direction do you live in?"

This question silenced every thought running through his mind. It was true that he hadn't thought of that particular detail, but he didn't miss a heartbeat in replying none-the-less. "West of here. Over near the Turtle apartment buildings. How about you?"

Nodding, "Close, but still a slight distance," he answered. The dancer fluidly moved to stand near him - but Eriol noticed not _next_ to him like he hoped. Eriol nodded, but otherwise decided that it would be best to keep to himself.

Li Syaoran was _not_ poor. Quite the contrary - he was filthy rich. Being one of the biggest business owners and CEO's in the world, his company '_Lady Yelan_' - name solely after his late mother - was the worlds best business trading industy, and he came more easily into money than one would expect.

His late night dancing was a secret that he planned to keep, and no one from the 'world-above' knew of it. He had always wanted to dance - and at one embarrasing point in his life, sing - and the only way to do so, was at these late night clubs where no one knew him or ask any questions.

Despite all that, the pale young man who he was stood near - about to share a taxi with - was the first he had met that didn't seem to want to get straight into his pants. It was intriging, if not slightly suspicious. Shoving his hands into his pockets, Syaoran reasoned with himself, that as a martial artist trained from birth, he could protect himself if need-be.

A dark red car with huge yellow stickers plasted across the sides and bumpers pulled up in front of them. The driver called out a very unusual name considering they were in England - the man's name was apparantly 'Hiiragizawa' - before the businessman nodded, and procceded to continue being a perfect British gentleman, and opened the car door for him. After giving the address to the driver, the cab continued on.

"Hello," Hiiragizawa spoke, turning to him. Syaoran merely nodded in return, staring out the window. "I must say, and I apologise if this offends you in anyway, but that was certainly a beautiful performance."

Raising an eyebrow, Syaoran once again studied the british man. Dark hair, grey-blue eyes covered by thinly-framed glasses, pale skin, sharp features, and an aura of perfectly infruiating calmness. Syaoran was not as easily angered as most people generally thought. He just usually couldn't care less about most topics. But this man seemed to just be able to rise his anger levels with a simple smile.

"It doesn't offend me. Thank you." Trying to keep his sentances short, Syaoran also tried to ignore how attractive the man sitting next to him was. He had found out a long time ago that he was bisexual, and he didn't care who knew - his only problem was that he didn't find anyone worthy to be in a relationship with, and he wasn't the type to get into 'fun' relationships that lasted only a few days.

Hiiragizawa smiled again, trying to draw the brunette into a light conversation. "Maa maa... the stock markets are sky rocketing lately, and it really is unbelievable just how some of the idiots in the industy made it happen," he spoke, chuckling.

Syaoran nodded sympathising. "Especially the idiots in the clothing industy. Give them a hideous design, and they can still manage to get people to wear it - just by letting a professional model wear them on the catwalk! The world really is plummeting."

Both the driver and Hiiragizawa laughed at this, but the businessman seemed to focus on the knowledge that Syaoran seemed to hold of the business world - and more importantly, how this would allow him to keep the conversation continuing. "You seem to know the business industry well."

"Who doesn't, if they can open their eyes more clearly," Syaoran retorted. Hiiragazawa laughed again, and this time, Syaoran couldn't ignore the warm feeling settling into his stomach. They continued to banter lightly over the marketing industy, untill the cab pulled up outside the Turtle apartmet building, and helped the dancer out of the car. Paying the full fee, the dark haired man suddenly seemed to remember something.

"My sincerest apologies! Where _are_ my manners! Allow me to introduce myself, I am Eriol Hiiragizawa, at your service," the man had picked up Syaoran's right hand and now kissed it after the small introduction. Colour flared to the dancers cheeks, and Syaoran nodded in acceptance. Still holding his hand, Eriol awaited Syaoran's reply.

"Most call me 'Gypsy'," Syaoran answered only giving his stage name away. Eriol nodded at this in complete understanding.

"We are well met, I hope."

"We are indeed," Syaoran answered, keeping up with the old english traditional style of speach.

"Perhaps we could discuss the world industries over coffee sometime? I would be absolutely delighted to be within your company, Gypsy," Eriol offered, kissing Syaoran's hand once more.

The blush rose higher on his cheeks, and he tried to keep his voice steady as he replied. "Perhaps... but I don't drink coffee. It'll have to be hot chocolate for me, I'm afraid."

Eriol smiled in slight surprise. It wasn't every day someone would prefer a hot chocolate over the ever addictive caffine drink - although he himself preferred traditional english tea. Nodding, Eriol kissed Gypsy's hand once more, slipping his card into the mans hand. Bowing lightly, Eriol moved towards the entranceway of the apartment building leaving the beauty with a simple 'Goodbye'.

He knew that he would be thinking of the brunette for the rest of the night - and as always, he was rarely wrong.

* * *

It was a day later, and Syaoran was taking a break from the run-through of morning meetings he had just had, when he brought out the card that the charming man last night had slipped into his hand. He had been slightly disappointed when the Hiiragizawa had just left like that - and it had piqued his interest. The dark haired man was simply a mystery, and more so when he found out that the business card he now held was for a company in close runnings with '_Cherry Blossoms_' - who was one of his best friends from Japan, Daidouji Tomoyo.

The number placed professionally in edwardian script upon the small card had him chewing his lip, and his mind was split into two on whether to call or not. After all, he had no idea what the man wanted - and the fact that they might simply _talk_ didn't seem like the most likely option, yet with this myesterious man, he might never know - and Hiiragizawa may just be looking for some company.

Looking up at the clock, noticing that he had two hours to go until lunch...

Pocketing the number, Syaoran picked up the phone.

* * *

**Brooding Darkness:** Please tell me what you think. I might not do any more otherwise. Thank you for reading!


	3. Part 2

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

**Review Replys:**

**crystal tears of betrayal:** I'm glad that you like it! Yeah, I haven't read any fics with them older than fifteen. In this their acctually about twenty-four to twenty-five years old, and I'd always wanted Syaoran to have the secret life - everyone makes it Sakura or Eriol for some reason - but still have his Clans successfulness. So, thank you!

**Priestess Catatonia:** Thank you very much! I'm glad that your enjoying this one, and I'll try to update as much as possible!

**Suzaku24:** Thank you so much! I'm glad that you're liking it. And I will try my best!

**Thank you to all of my reviewers!**

**Note:  
**"Blah blah blah" means speech  
-/-/-/- means point of view change  
- straight line means scene change

**Gypsy Dance**  
by Brooding Darkness

**Part 2**

It was late the next evening, but the fancy resturant let off a calming glow that fled out into the tepid air. Syaoran stood outside the building, leaning against the wall as he waited for the dark haired businessman to get there. He was dressed in a tight-fitting white shirt with the top buttom undone, black pants and boots, and a light leather jacket. He looked more like a model than the dancer he had been the previous night.

But the effect still stunned Eriol as he stood across the pavement, staring. Coughing lightly to regain his composure, it also alerted the brunette to his presance. Smiling at each other casually, they both proceeded into the resturant.

"Nice. Although I'm sure that I never mentioned liking chinese food," Syaoran commented, letting the ice slide off of his voice. Eriol smirked, nodding to the waiter who would sit them down.

"Maa maa... I merely recognised the fact that you were Chinese, and assumed - and forgive me if this offends you - that you would enjoy the tastes of your home over anything else, which may undoubtedly offend you," he pointed out. They reached their table by this point, and Eriol - ever the gentleman - pulled out Syaoran's seat for him, letting him sit down comfortably first. Seating himself, Eriol gazed at Syaoran for a few seconds, taking in the bright eyes and easy posture.

"Yes?" Syaoran asked, icily.

"My apologies... you look simply... breath-taking," he complimented. And to his delight, Syaoran blushed.

"Keep your perverted comments to yourself, thank you. I would rather do without them," he stammered slightly, still blushing. "I would also like to remind you that this dinner is to continue our business discussion from the previous occassion." Eriol nodded politely, his eyes focusing solely on Syaoran's. This unnerved the brunette slightly, as most people would run their eyes all over him.

"Of course. Speaking of dinner, however..."

The waiter had walked over to them at this point, and Eriol ordered for them both - drinks included. Syaoran frowned, but did not comment - Eriol was paying for the bill afterall. After their order had been taken, Eriol said, "Now, continuing. I believe we were discussing the designing industy. And I must ask... is that a favourite of yours?"

To Eriol, Gypsy didn't exactly seem the type - but then again, he was here to solve a mystery of his own.

"No. But my friend loves it, and she likes to make me clothes, including those I wore at the club." This was true. Tomoyo _had_ made them for him, claiming that they would show him off - she just didn't know that he acctually wore them. "She can be really exsperating sometimes, but she usually hold good intentions," he smiled, chuckling despite himself at the number of occasions she had fussed at what he was wearing.

"By the sound of it, she wanted to rope you into being a model," Eriol commented. This friend of Gypsy's sounded very much like a competitor of his, so he could relate.

"Always. And she always seems to have a second to measure me before we depart from our meetings," Syaoran smiled again. Eriol liked this effect, as Syaoran's eyes lit up completely and in doing so, his whole face lit up. Eriol also observed that many people were staring at Gypsy - the women with looks of awe and jelousy, the men with looks of lust and annoyance.

"Does she have a love interest? Perhaps that would help," Eriol suggested, taking a hold of Syaoran's hand across the table. For his part, Eriol had done it so discreetly, that Syaoran didn't seem to notice.

"No. Although, God's and Goddesses know I've tried!"

The food came then, and the small table lasped into temporarily silence, and they each recieved the given food - right before Syaoran eyed Eriol suspiciously.

"You are aware that I gave you my stage name for a reason, don't you?" Syaoran scowled. Eriol nodded, lifting his drink to his lips.

"Of course. Why?"

"How did you know that Dim Sum is my favourite?" the brunette asked suspiciously.

At this Eriol's evening picked up even more. It was just chance that he had ordered that, and now he knew something about the young dancer. "I didn't really. I just thought that it was a nice enough meal for you to enjoy," the dark haired man smiled. Gypsy gave him a suspicious look, but he didn't delve any further into the subject. "Now, about this friend of yours..."

"What about her?" Syaoran scowled again. He wasn't about to let anything happen to someone he considered family - and also a _very_ close friend, his only friend in fact.

"I'm just saying, I think I know someone who would enjoy her company. Is she straight?" Eriol asked. Syaoran shook his head slightly. But the prospect of Tomoyo having someone to bother with her fashion sense and tastes deffiantely held his interest. "Wonderful! Now, my friend is a model, so she wouldn't mind clothes being thrust onto her. And she isn't straight either," Eriol continued.

Syaoran nodded again. So far this girl was perfect. "What's her name?"

"Sakura Kinomoto. You-you've heard of her?" He had to stop himself mid-sentance as Gypsy's eyes had enlargened, and he had almost chocked on his drink. Nodding, Syaoran regained his composure quickly.

"The model? Green eyed? Brunette? Lightly tanned skin, with a perfect waist?" Syaoran asked, quickly. Eriol nodded to each of these questions, and he raised his eyebrow as the dancer paled somewhat.

"Is there a problem?" he asked gently.

"She... she's my- no. No, it's nothing," Syaoran tried to dismiss the subject, but Eriol knew better. Yet he still let the topic drop - despite his better judgement.

"Anyway. I'm sure you can handle this friend just fine," the dark haired businessman deferred. Syaoran nodded, then silently tended to his food.

The rest of their dinner carried out just as much, and Eriol had a question sparking in his mind. Which he asked just after their desserts arrived. "Where did you learn how to dance?"

"What? Oh. No where. I've never had lessons," he replied. "And I can afford them before you comment."

"No, no. I was just wondering if you would like a dance lesson from me," Eriol swished the liquid around in his glass, the light glinting off of his glasses.

"_You_? _You_ dance?" Syaoran asked skeptically.

"Old english styles, though. The waltz, fox-trot, tango... and other such dances," Eriol waved his hand dismissively. "Do you know any of these?"

"No. I'm afraid not. I usually make it up as I go along," the brunette admitted. He sipped at his water - as if he'd allow alcohol around such an attractive guy, which may loosen his tongue - and comtemplated the offer. "It'll be private? And no funny business involved?"

"Of course," Eriol said as he leaned back, folding his hand across each other.

"You've said that alot tonight. 'Of course'. I'm starting to think that your a broken record. But, the offer _does_ sound tempting..." Syaoran hesitated.

"How about we meet in my studio, say... tomorrow afternoon? Or any time conventient, of course," Eriol pondered.

Syaoran smiled, shaking his head. "You don't even realise your doing it, do you?" He spoke softly, but humously. "Tomorrow sounds fine. But I won't be there too long. I'm booked at the club again," he said louder.

"And I hope if you don't mind me coming to watch again," Eriol smirked at this resulted in a larger blush than before.

"Well, I don't want to loose a customer," Gypsy remarked, smiling slightly.

They had both parted ways soon after - Eriol giving Syaoran a curtersy kiss onto the dancers hand, obviously - with an agreed time for the following afternoon.

* * *

Now, Syaoran stood outside the white mansion. He wasn't that impressed really, but he _was_ impressed with the studio that Eriol had. He was showed in by a servant dressed fully in black and white - and very smartly at that - only to be left alone. The room was huge with long mirrors that went from the floor to the ceiling, and large windows that let in the light. A small table with a silver radio sat in one of the corners, and the wooden flooring gave off a very polished aura.

Placing his jacket next to the table, Syaoran looked out of the windows, taking in the view of an old english landscape - buildings off in the distance, a church tower easily spotted, and a greenscape surrounding the gardens. Today he wore three-quarter black pants, and a red chinese-style shirt with a gold dragon design. The sleeves of the red piece stopped at his upper arms, and tight black cotton replaced the silk underneath, cutting off at the wrists. With black pump-like shoes, he looked more like a professional dancer.

And Eriol took in this view as he entered the room. Turning to face each other, they gazed suspiciously/happily into each others eyes.

Eriol wore a deep sky blue t-shirt and black slacks, with no shoes, and a happy smile. "Please remove your shoes, as I would prefer you learn by not stepping harshly onto my toes, thank you," the dark haired man asked. Syaoran growled quietly, yet comlied, leaving them next to his jacket.

"Now what?" he asked stubbonly. Eriol smiled again, and walked over to the radio, pressing a few buttons and played the music. "This is a slow waltz. And I'll show you the steps, so please closely watch."

With that, Eriol took Syaoran's hands, placing them appropiately for the female partener, and guided him through the steps. The dark haired mans right hand rested on the small of Gypsy's back, pulling them closer together as Syaoran picked up on the rythem.

With grace, they glided slowly around the room, and Eriol added some twists and turns - upping the complications - with Syaoran never missing a beat. The continued for several minuites, untill the music died out. Stepping away from each other, Eriol clapped lightly.

"Wonderful. You really are quite the dancer," Eriol said. He was slightly dazed at how intoxicating the other man seemed to be. He was graceful, holding himself well, educated certainly, a fast mind wth quick comebacks, and beautiful to boot. And Eriol had to admit to himself that he was quite infatuated.

Syaoran's cheeks flushed brightly, and he only nodded in acknowlegement of the comment. His head tilted to one side cutely as he reguarded the next piece of music that played out. "A tango?" he asked. "Thats quite a fast beat."

"It is. Would you like to learn this next? You seem to have picked up the waltz's basics easily enough," Eriol said motioning for them to move closer once more. "For this, we need to be close in body. The dance is a more sexual one, and I know that you like those," he jibbed lightly. Syaoran glared but otherwise made no comment.

Once more, Eriol led Syaoran in the basic steps, and once more, Syaoran picked up on them easily enough - even though he stumbled a little whenever Eriol seemed to get too close. However, the ending did change. Eriol swung Syaoarn down so that he had an arm around the dancers waist, and the other arm under Syaoran's knees. Syaoran had wrapped both of his arms around the dark haired mans neck and shoulders.

Sliding his had up slightly, Eriol stared into deep pools of amber, trying to keep his self-control in check. Syaoran mean-while, was starting to give into his. Their faces were so close to each others that they could feel each others breaths, and the slightest movements would result in them...

"What's your real name, Gypsy?" Eriol whispered, his breath tingling along Syaoran's lips.

"Syaoran," he replied breathlessly.

And with that, Eriol closed the distance between them.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Syaoran's eyes slid shut as the warm sensation flew through his body, and he gave into the kiss, lightly pushing back. He could feel the other man's touches everywhere - his right hand on his leg, his left hand on his back, and his chest touching his side. A fleeting feeling of his fingers diving into the dark, silken locks and the thin fabric of Eriol's shirt mingled as the kiss continued.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Eriol was in heaven. That was the only way he could describe it. The warmth of the kiss added to the body he was holding overwhelmed him, and he felt himself tingle when he realised that the other man, '_Syaoran_', was kissing him back. The fingers running through his hair, and clinging upon his shirt was enough to still his mind. If it was possible, Eriol pulled the dancer in closer.

Deepening the kiss, Eriol let his emotions of excitement and wonder flow into the kiss. And if what he was getting in return was anything to go off, he wasn't the only one enjoying the dance lesson.

Pulling away after a moment longer, Eriol watched as amber orbs fluttered open. Breathing deeply, they stared at each other before _Syaoran_ - his heart fluttered at the name - pulled him in for a second go.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

A few minutes later, they parted, panting harshly, and seperated completely. Syaoran slid to the floor as Eriol knelt down beside him.

"Well, this is an interesting development," Eriol said.

Syaoran gave him a look of exsperation. "You like to ruin moods, don't you, Hiiragizawa?" He asked, still catching his breath.

"Not really. I was just saying that I rather enjoy our lessons. And please, it's 'Eriol'," he replied, almost casually. Nodding, Syaoran glanced at his watch.

"And we'll also have to continue this later. I need to go and get my things ready for the club," he smiled at the sour look that passed across the businessmans face for a moment. "But, if you like. I could give you a private dance later?" At this Eriol cheered up dramatically - it was _always_ dramatics for him really.

Although what had passed through his head for Syaoran to suggest such a thing, he himself, didn't know.

"I would like that very much, thank you."

True to his word, Eriol attended the club - this time in more casual attire - and Syaoran danced erotically once more, except this time his eyes would stray to blue-grey ones, and his movements would become more flurid. And true to Syaoran's word, he left with the businessman to the white-coated mansion, and danced something _much_ more private.

* * *

Syaoran lay across Eriol's pale form - both completely naked under the bed covers - his left arm resting on the taller mans chest, and their legs tangled. Both were panting lightly, and they began to settle into sleep. A satisfied smile drifted over Eriol's face, while as contented smile stayed on Syaoran's.

"I'm glad we shared that taxi," Syaoran mumbled lightly, sleep pulling him adrift.

Pulling the brunette closer, Eriol returned, "And so am I."

* * *

**Brooding Darkness:** My apologies for not emphisizing on the 'private dance' but as the rating is only T and I don't wish for my account to be deleted, this is all I can do for now. However, I may write a piece on my AFF account just on this small part between them. Please check out my account as '_AurthorsDeathNote_' if you are interested in more explicit sences. Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!


	4. Part 3

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

**NOTE:** I have recently started University, and have already been given assignments, therefore I would like to apologise for the late updating for chapters. Thank you.

Also, I would like to point out something which I didn't quite explain in previous chappies. I wonder if anyone noticed this? Anyway, Eriol was staying overnight near the Turtle Apartments due to an important business meeting, hence why he was at the club so late at night. Now, Eriol is back in his white-washed mansion afterwards, where he gives Syaoran the dance lessons. Thank you!

**Review Replies:**

**crystal tears of betrayal:** You're poking and prodding has done the trick! Here is the next chappie, and I'm glad you like my fic enough to try to mini-torture me. Lol! As for Syaoran knowing Sakura... well, you'll just have to read to find out! Thank you!

**Priestess Catatonia:** Thank you! I'll try to get all the chapters up as soon as possible! Thank you!

**Unknown289:** Thank you! I'm glad you like it!

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**Mandarin'peel:** Thank you! I'm sooo happy! I tried to convey exactly that! And it was picked up on! YAY! Thank you for such wonderful comments!

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**shoeterfly:** My apologies, I'll put something up (but not many people check it out really). I'm glad that you're enjoying this though! Thank you for reviewing!

**Sakura evil twin of Sango:** I'm glad you like it! Thank you!

**A big thank you to all of my reviewers!**

**Gypsy Dance**  
by Brooding Darkness

**Part 3**

In his office, Eriol held his trademark Cheshire smile as he continued with his paperwork. It wasn't unusual for the businessman to be smiling so, yet today, it was unusually happy. He had awoken to find a beautiful brunette in his arms, and they had shared breakfast together. What had made that morning better was that Syaoran had been slightly shy around him – not to mention he got to watch his lover do routine martial art exercises (making a mental note never to get on Syaoran's bad side). It was so adorably cute. And he never found himself thinking things like that.

He had already had three meetings today, and his mind still wandered somewhat... he had a plan, and he was going to go through with it.

* * *

Syaoran was in a _very_ good mood today. And all of his employees could tell. He wasn't glaring as much, and he even let himself relax during a phone meeting to the vice-president of the most annoying company in the world. His day wasn't going to be spoiled. Not even by the woman currently sitting across from him.

"So, it's just curious since we were talking and everything... then out of nowhere, he just pushed me into a date with some friend of his. Syaoran, are you listening?"

Daidouji Tomoyo was an experienced business-woman who had met Syaoran during college when they had took up the same business course. From then on, they had stayed in touch, and were even business partners to a point. And since they were such close friends, Tomoyo took it upon herself to keep Syaoran in complete check – that, and more importantly his wardrobe.

As a woman who constantly observed the world, she was well aware that Syaoran seemed to be in a good mood. This was a rare occasion.

"Yes, Tomoyo, I'm listening. Who are you speaking about anyway? You _haven't_ told me yet, before you make any remarks." A small fsmile graced the businessman's face as he regarded his partner.

"Oh, well, you know my competitor Hiiragizawa Eriol?" she asked, eyes closed as she smiled widely – which usually meant trouble.

"Sort of... what are you looking at me like that for? ...Tomoyo? Tomoyo!"

The amethyst eyed woman had launched herself at him and her purple measuring tape had whipped out of no where, and was now positioned against his arm.

"Oh, no! No. No! Tomoyo, get off!" Syaoran growled out, pushing her away.

"Fine." The amethyst eyes were closed again, and the young business-woman sat back down putting her tape away. "You haven't changed in size much anyway. But I can still make a few adjustments from the measurement I got from your arm."

Syaoran sweat-dropped, sighing, "I haven't changed at all."

Tomoyo nodded – almost to herself – before replying, "well, physically."

"Meaning?" The scowl was back. Syaoran's mood had just dropped a few notches, and he was really trying to hold his patience in check.

"Well... who is she?"

"What? _Who_?" Syaoran looked at her, slightly taken aback and confused.

"This young woman who seems to have caught our dear Li Syaoran's eye. So, who is she?" Tomoyo practically bubbled as she bounced in her seat, stars fluttering in her dark eyes.

Paling, Syaoran coughed before trying to compose himself – and succeeding horribly. Shifting in his seat, he cleared his throat, images of the night before racing through his mind. "There is no she," he answered truthfully. As feminine as Eriol could have been, he had proved himself to certainly be male. Blushing at _that_ particular thought, he rubbed his temples, and tried to stop his heart from panicking.

"Your face says otherwise, Syaoran-kun." That infuriating smile was back on her face, and she now seemed to have a large black bag on her lap that seemed to come out of nowhere – oh, yes. This was the Tomoyo _he_ knew. She was in a good mood too, it seemed.

"What's that? And _why_ does it seem that those types of things come out of nowhere?" Syaoran asked pointing at the item in question. Tomoyo then placed the bag at his feet.

"Wear it for her. Please?"

Not even thinking about looking into the bag, Syaoran just looked at his best friend. "There's no _she_ to wear it for, Tomoyo."

* * *

Smiling widely, Eriol stood staring in the doorway at the brunette as she twirled in front of the mirror.

"It looks great, Sakura. You always do."

"Yes, well... I'd look better if you hadn't just pushed me into this date an hour ago!" The green-eyed model complained. Her pale pink dress flowed around her, and the glitter on the hem sparkled lightly as she spun. The thin straps hung gently on her shoulders, and left her back bare, except where a glittering diamond necklace clasp lay gently down her elegant spine. She looked every bit the model she was.

"Actually... I was wondering if you new someone. Or at least something of him." Eriol's glasses gleamed slightly in the light as he viewed the young model tying her hair back with a pin.

"Who? Is it someone famous? Like another model, maybe?" She asked. Twirling to face him, she picked up her pink hand-bag, slipping it over her shoulder, before making her way towards him and the door.

"Well, he's..."

* * *

Syaoran wasn't usually fond of the things that Tomoyo made him. But she had outdone herself this time.

White silk three-quarter pajama bottoms with a pocket on either side, showed off his slender legs, and a thin – almost see-through – white shirt that was tied at the back with a thin white ribbon, and the collar hung around his shoulders. An embroidered pattern of peonies hemmed the short sleeves and mid-section, as well as the bottoms.

Turing in the mirror slightly, he regarded the outfit with a critical eye, yet he could not find something about the clothes that he disliked.

After Tomoyo had left his office that morning, he had then called Eriol to help arrange a date – after all, he was not about to let the woman find out about his love-life just yet -she would proberly never stop talking about it otherwise -when he, himself, was still in the early stages – blushing furiously and hoping that the other man wouldn't notice over the phone.

At the end of the conversation, Syaoran had shyly invited the other over for a night in.

/_"You cook as well as dance, Syaoran?" The voice on the other side of the line seemed to be smirking somewhat, although Syaoran would never know._

"_Yes, among other things, Hiiragizawa. Though its still none of your business," he growled out, his cheeks feeling like they were on fire._

"_I'd be delighted. Thank you. And perhaps, a 'dessert'?"_

"_Hentai."_/

The brunette scowled at the mirror. He really wasn't used to receiving such comments... and he wasn't used to wanting them to be true. Shaking his head, Syaoran changed back into casual clothing, placing his new nightwear under his pillow, and proceeded to the living room, where a certain amethyst-eyed woman was glaring at him fixedly.

"Well?" She asked, taking not of his clothing. "I thought you said that we were going out to somewhere fancy."

The designer was clad in a white gypsy top, with matching ribbons on the small bands of sleeves, and a lilac skirt that stopped just below her knees. A white and lilac wrap was tied elegantly around her waist, and pearl bangles and earrings finished off the look.

"You are. I'm not. I told you, its a date," Syaoran replied, slumping down into the couch.

For his part, Syaoran preferred living in his homely apartment rather than any adobe such as his new lover's. Although small, it was the first place he had been able to call home after his mothers passing. Not even his sisters had been able to make him feel better in the summer mansion back in China.

"With who? And since when do _you_ set people up on dates?" She had sat herself in a seat opposite the brunette, her eyes never leaving his.

"I don't set people up, Tomoyo. This is only so that you can have a good night out, instead of working all the time. As for who, you'll find out when you get there." He smiled slightly at the woman's slightly hunched form, knowing that this was her way of sulking.

"So what'll you be doing tonight, then?"

"Having dinner."

* * *

A graceful knock on the door, and Eriol smiled his Cheshire smile as he heard a small yelp followed quickly by a rustling noise. A few moments later, Syaoran opened the door, amber eyes cautiously glancing around the hallway.

"Good evening, Syaoran."

"Good evening, Hiiragizawa. Would you like to come in?"

"Thank you."

The two stood awkwardly inside the hall, before the shorter of the two led the way into the small living area. Eriol was nicely surprised to see a couple of lit candles, and the smell of flowers reached his nose. Sitting down on the couch, Eriol's smile grew wider as Syaoran shuffled around the apartment, getting their dinner ready.

"I hope you don't mind sitting in here for it, only I don't like eating in the kitchen," Syaoran asked.

"Of course. I'm just delighted to be welcomed into your home," Eriol's large smile turned into a slight smirk as he watched the brunettes face turn bright red.

"Of course."

Standing, Eriol moved to stand between the other man and the doorway into the kitchen – where wondrous smells were escaping from – placing his hands gently around Syaoran's waist. Leaning down, Eriol captured Syaoran's lips in a sweet kiss. Syaoran moaned quietly as his arms came up and around the others neck, his hands finding their way into dark hair.

Pulling their bodies tighter together, Eriol pressed himself into the other man, rocking slightly and earning a shuddering moan. Pulling away for a second, the two gasped before Eriol's lips descended onto his exposed neck.

"Ah! E-Eriol!"

Nipping over a particularly sensitive area, Eriol thrust his hips into Syaoran's earning a harsh mewl. Syaoran's eyes opened focusing on the kitchen door, before they widened.

"Oh no!" Pushing the taller man off, Syaoran manuvered around him and dashed into the kitchen area. Groaning in annoyance, all Eriol could do was straighten his clothing, and watch after the brunette as he set about completing their dinner before it burnt.

A minute later, and Syaoran came out setting two trays filled with cuisines that he doubted even some of the best chefs in Britain could produce. Putting the image into his mind, Eriol waited for the other man to sit down before they started to eat in a strange silence.

All Eriol could think about was how amazing Syaoran truly is. And how good the food in his mouth was. Ever the gentleman, Eriol decided that perhaps jumping the brunette straight after the meal wouldn't be the best thing he ever did – no matter how much he wanted to.

"Absolutely delicious. My goodness, your not really a chef are you?" Eriol slyly asked. He had received a lot of information from his good friend and popular model, and he was just aching to divulge it piece by piece.

"No, although my sisters were never any good, so that usually left me to cook when mother was working late. Do you really like it?"

"Yes. So tell me, what profession are you in, exactly? You know, outside of dancing." That Cheshire cat smile was in place again, and he helped Syaoran take the plate out to be washed.

"I haven't told you?" Syaoran asked, almost to himself, but knew that he couldn't give such information away.

"No, but I am interested. If you'd tell me."

"And you?" Syaoran filled the sink with hot water, pouring a squirts' worth of washing-up liquid into the mix. He was half facing the sink, and half facing the other man.

"I'm sorry?"

"What is _your_ profession?"

"I'm in the business industry. I have told you. And I even gave you my card."

"Yes, but what is it that you do?" Syaoran asked again, now turning off the water and starting on the dishes.

"I'm a director. I mainly manage the models and the shoots. But I don't own the business completely. I share it with my business partner, one Kaho Mitzuki. She's an old friend." Eriol was now leaning against the door frame watching the brunette as he scrubbed the plates and placed them onto the dish rack. "And you?"

"I'm a businessman myself."

No more was going to be said on the matter as far as Syaoran was aware.

"Ah, yes. It must be hard trying to dance without anyone knowing you, especially being a CEO of one of the biggest businesses in the world."

Dropping a dish into the sink, Syaoran turned fully to glare at Eriol. "What?" He gritted out.

"Well, owning such a large industry of merchandise, and clothing, and all sorts of other things must be quite tiring. Its a wonder you have the energy to dance at all," Eriol's smile had also disappeared, and he was looking back at those fierce amber eyes he had fallen for.

"Where did you find all this out? Tell me, Eriol!"

"A friend of mine," he casually replied. Stepping forward, Eriol once again wrapped his arms around Syaoran's waist, and induced a long and passionate kiss. "You feel that hickie on your shoulder, just below your collar bone? That's proof that your mine now."

And with that, Eriol pulled the brunette to him again. After a few seconds he let Syaoran push him away. Flustered, Syaoran dried his hands on a towel, and gently let his fingers glide over the marking.

"Yours?" He bit out. "I belong to no one."

"Well, I want you to be mine. Like you were once Sakura's."

An intense silence filled the kitchen as Syaoran steadied himself against the counter, eyes wide. "Sakura? How do you know about her? And what does it matter?"

"You were engaged to her, Syaoran. You belonged to her once. Now I want you to belong to me." Pulling them close again, Eriol stared sharply into those wide and upset eyes. He pushed the brunette against the counter, and re-instated the kiss.

"Is that a proposal?"

"Perhaps."

The next kiss they shared led them to the bedroom, and long into the night.

* * *

**Brooding Darkness:** My apologies for ending it there, but there will be explanations in the next chappie. Thank you for staying and reading this longer chapter. Please review! Thank you!


	5. Part 4

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

**NOTE:** I can't believe that University is almost over! Therefore, these may come up quicker, but I still have assignments and will be going on a dig sometime soon. Thank you.

Now, a little serious thing here: I have 1858 views, yet only 22 reviews. I wonder why? Please review! If I get 30 on this chapter I will put in an add-on as a special interaction between the cute couple! Thank you!

...Me thinks that the bedroom was nice and warm by morning! Hehehehe!

So, Syaoran used to be engaged to Sakura? I wonder if she knows about the two of them yet? And just what will become of that proposal? Well, I'll just have to write to find out! Thank you! Also, I have written and put up what happens in the bedroom on my AFF account. So if you want to know what happens, its there! Thank you for staying and reading this longer chapter.

**Review Replies:**

**crystal tears of betrayal:** Thank you! I actually meant 'maneuvered', but my stupid auto-spelling changed it! T.T Anyways, I am trying to improve my spelling (I've always been bad at it, and yet I have an A in A-Level English Language) so thank you! I hope you enjoy this chappie a much as the rest!

**Cool Mint:** I like to think so. Thank you!

**CrazyClone:** Thank you! Syaoran is my absolute favourite character in this, so I'm glad that we share the same image of him. As for Eriol, well he was a Hentai in the series, so he's bound to be a Hentai now! Lol! Thank you!

**Mizuki hikari:** I'm glad you find this interesting! Thank you!

**Mandarin'peel:** Thank you! I'm glad that you approve, and I love the enthusiasm! Thank you so much!

**Victorian War:** No, I'm not dropping this, although I do have trouble fitting this around my Uni work. Sigh Oh well! I loved writing the phone conversation. I could just imagine Syaoran dead-panning on the word 'Hentai'. I would love to once again thank you for both the offer of beta reading and loving this fic! Thank you so much!

**Silent Sage:** My work is stalkable? blinks Wow. I'm glad you're loving this. Thank you for reviewing!

**Sakura evil twin of Sango:** Thank you! Wow, you sure like romance, huh? Well, here's the next update. Thank you!

**A big thank you to all of my reviewers! And WOW! I was reading all the reviews again, and I realised that this fic has no bad ones. It's pretty amazing really. So thank you once again to all of my reviewers!**

**Gypsy Dance  
**by Brooding Darkness

**Part 4**

The bright morning sun filtered through the slight slit between the curtains, hitting the tanned skin of the dancer's arm. Eriol had been awake for almost half an hour now, just holding the man in his arms close, and hoping that he could watch gypsy for a time longer - silky chestnut locks brushed over soft skin, the light breath breezing gently over the other mans chest. Eriol had found heaven a second time. However, the businessman knew that as soon as the sun would bask over them, Syaoran would awaken.

Yet, in its own way... watching those beautiful amber eyes open, and the pure, raw emotion that was settled there upon waking from sleep was always an amazing sight to see. And Eriol could only hope to see that pleasure once again.

True to the thought, Syaoran's eyes fluttered open - stealing Eriol's breath - and blue met with bright amber. A pretty smile graced the dancers features almost lighting up the room immediately. Snuggling his head into the crook of the pale skin of Eriol's shoulder, Syaoran strifled a yawn, and sighed as he reflected upon the night before. Alas, Syaoran also reflected upon the sun having risen before himself for a second time causing a sliht frown to crease his features.

"How about I start breakfast while you do your training?" Eriol suggested having followed the brunettes train of thought.

Smiling, Syoaran kissed the newly appearing stubble on Eriol's chin, before pushing back the covers and climbing out of the bed. After a heart-felt sigh, Eriol too pushed back the covers following suit.

* * *

"Ask me."

"Hmm?" Eriol turned away from washing the pots - really, Syaoran's apartment was equipped for _anything_. "Ask you what?"

"_Ask_ me."

"_Ask_ you _what_?"

"Last night."

"Ah." Now the businessman knew what the dancer was talking about. He had been _very_ caught up and had done something that strangely, he didn't regret.

"...Well?"

"Syaoran..."

"Nevermind. Forget it."

"...Of course..."

* * *

Li Syaoran was a world famous CEO and one of the most eligible bachelors. So it was a complete mystery to the public that he hadn't dated any of the women (or men) that would willingly given themselves to him. So his secetary found it quite strange when she had listened in on a phone call to a riavl business that there was an underlaying of flirtation. Having done her research, she knew that Hiirizagawa Eriol was an attractive man and a fellow bachelor, so it could've been a bit of friendly banter... however... Really it wasn't her place, but she was determined to figure out what was going on. Afterall, this was her beloved cousin involved.

* * *

The rest of that morning had not gone well. Eriol had left soon after without a word spoken, and Syaoran felt almost used after the small row that they had had the night before. Getting his suitcase ready, he noticed a note that the other man had left on the dresser table, and had quickly shoved it into one of the suitcase pockets for a later time. Now sat in his office and on his lunch break, Syaoran opened it up.

A black and red leaflet fell onto his lap, and the old english script writing that had been roughly scrawled was folded into four. Holding the letter first, Syaoran read:

/_My dearest Syaoran,_

_I apologise for this morning, please find it within your heart to forgive me. As it is, I found this yesterday, and was going to give it to you last night. Gook luck!_/

The leaflet was a black with a picture of a red-dressed dancer, the words '_Competition_' and '_Any/All welcome!_' splashed across in grey. The brunette blushed when he realised that the outfit was very close to the one he had worn the night he had met Eriol. If anything, the dancer could've been him.

_'Good Luck'?_ Flipping the leaflet over, Syaoran examined every inch of it, finding nothing but a website address. Bringing up a new window on his computer, Syaoran quickly typed the address in, waiting for results. It was a second later that he began to dial the gits' phone number.

"_Hello_?"

"Hiirizigawa..."

"_Ah! I see you've read my letter. I_ do _appologise_-"

"What.. the.. _hell_.. is my stage name doing on a website?"

"_I entered you.. heh._"

"For a dance competition?"

"...(Sigh) **_Yes_**, _a dance competition. Among other things... But I can't wait to see you dance. Think of it as a challange._"

"A challange?"

"_Yes. If you win... I'll become your business partner... and we can go from there._"

The CEO bit his lip. He wanted the pale skinned man more than he had wanted anything... but he wanted it on his own terms. This business proposition was an overlay of what they had been discussing. Yet, somehow, he was still aroused by the mans voice. Really, he thought that he was over his teenage years (or what he had experienced of it) but the other businessman had a way that brought him back to his childhood.

"I'll think about it."

The list of names jumped out at him. It was a street competition that allowed amatures to dance either solo or in pairs. From the look of the list, sixteen duos and twelve other solo's had entered, his own name 'Gypsy' being the thirteenth - his lucky number.

But first, he had someone to call.

* * *

***RING RING RING RING***

Fiddling about in their pocket for a moment, a graceful hand picked up the mobile, answering with a polite: "Hello?"

"_So... What have you been up to?_"

A pair of bright eyes widened.

"Oh no."

"_Oh, **yes**_."

* * *

**Brooding Darkness:** Not my best, but the plot thickens. Please review! Thank you!


	6. Bonus

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

**Gypsy Dance**  
by Brooding Darkness

**BONUS!**

Li Syaoran: Nineteen. Single. Became the leader and CEO of the famous Li Clan and the Clan's business, re-naming it the year before after his mothers death. His childhood dreams had been shattered the moment he had made them - yet somehow, the want to dance and sing was still prominant, even after harsh training.

Although he had been raised a businessman, he still held the body of someone who constantly moved with a fluid grace that not even his mother or sisters held. He knew that his training in martial arts was the main cause - but practicing dance moves alone in his room always helped. It was only after his mothers quiet passing that he realised that his own time was limited to a full span of 80 years (and even then, only if he was luck). So, he had decided to secretly fulfil his passion for dancing.

Hence why he now found himself outside a run down dancing studio.

The building was small, grey and most importantly: not local. Walking in, Syaoran noticed that the secretary there was young, male and busy sorting through papers. Walking up to him, Syaoran caught his attention, hoping not to get recognised.

"Hello. I have an audition."

"Name?"

Gulping Syaoran spoke the false name that he had given to the place (Li Jien, his younger cousin) before being asked to proceed to the next room. Building his courage, Syaoran approached and walked through the door. The room was filled with mirrors, a table that seated three, and a stereo on the corner next to a strict looking woman.

"Li Jien? Good. Sit."

Sitting on the chair in front of the table, Syaoran nodded to each of the instructors, noticing that on any other day, he'd probably own them all. That particular though made him smirk inside and settle his nerves.

"What arts school have you studied at?" the older of the two men (on the right) asked.

"I haven't. Dancing used to be a hobbie, but I've studied at one of the world's best universities, Oxford."

"Well, have you studied under a teacher?"

"No, just myself."

"And what makes you think that you have the experience to study with our dancers and teachers?" He looked sceptical now, almost sneering.

"I know what to do, how to move, and I can pick up and follow any routine quickly. I know how to dance."

"We'll see. Put the chair to the side Mr. Li, and then you can free style to the chosen music," the woman put in her two pennies, before pressing the 'play' button letting a slow beat float out across the room. Pushing the chair to one side, Syaoran backed up a few paces, nodding his head gently to the music.

Then it _flowed_.

He began to move with all the grace he possessed, and his body moved in a way that it hadn't before - even in his bedroom, alone. It was erotic, fluid, full and in tune with every note that filtered out of the player.

* * *

Walking out of the building, the brunette chewed on the inside of his lip annoyed. They hadn't wanted him_ 'because he belonged in a strip club'_. That really irked him. He could so better. But there were other places, and auditions that he needed to get to. He just had to hope that they wanted him to dance to something faster and with less 'grace'.

Calling a cab, Syaoran huffed to himself knowing that he should've gotten that dance part. But, he would just have to get over it and concentrate on the next ones.

* * *

That was the fifth one, and still nothing.

Now really angry, Syaoran decided that he needed 'experience'. And the stripper club across the street was staring right at him. Sighing in defeat, Syaoran went in.

Coming out twenty minutes later, a new night job with him, he walked over to the coffee shop on the corner to get a hot chocolate. Sitting at a window table, he laid out everything that he needed to do that week, and what he had been doing for that day - including the auditions.

* * *

Hiiragizawa Eriol: Twenty. Single. Having just finished his business degree, he was starting in his first business in the fashion industry, and now looked after three major factories and sixty stores country-wide. Yet, he still wanted something more interesting in his life. _Someone_ more interesting.

Having come out of a meeting with some of the models - his main area of the business - he walked to the coffee shop on the corner, getting a _lovely_ cup'a' tea. Glancing over the tables, his eyes lingered unwillingly on a beautiful young man sat in a window seat with the table strewn in papers. As tempting as it was, Eriol chose to stay at the counter to wait for his drink-to-go.

However, his eyes continued to stray over to the beautiful brunette, and the papers that were being re-organised, written upon, or folded and put away. A smile came to his lips as he watched the man sip at his drink, pretty, big, amber eyes blinking softly at the work below him. A light tap reminded him that he was there for tea, not a date, before he smiled at the waitress before leaving.

Little did he know that he would only remember those eyes, and watching the busy young man later on just after he turned twenty-five, laying in bed with the most beautiful creature in the universe, snuggling up for the third time since they had met.

Walking out the door, Eriol headed back to his office.

* * *

Syaoran looked up as a hansome man left the store, before looking back down at his work. For some unknown reason, he shivered slightly.


	7. Part 5

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

**NOTE:** I have finished my dig, and I am still job hunting, while trying to get to writing. So thank you for being so paicent!

Serious thing: I have 2677 views, yet only 30 reviews. So, please review! Thank you!

Bad Eriol! Entering our dear Gypsy into a competition? What will Syaoran do?

**Review Replies:**

**koolmint26:** Thank you! There are more prequel/sequal shots coming up(maybe to do with a sequal story - depends) Thank you soooo much for reviewing!

**Sakura evil twin of Sango:** YES! There are more chapters, along the way! Thank you soooo much for your review!

**NKitty29:** I like to think that too. Thank you sooooo much for reviewing!

**A big thank you to all of my reviewers once again!**

**Gypsy Dance  
**by Brooding Darkness

**Part 5**

Li Meiling was a very interesting woman. At age 24, she was the head secretary and primary assistant to the CEO of the largest Company in the world. She was very good looking with long black hair and sharp red eyes. She was tall, nicely shaped, and had the benefit of money for her good taste in clothing. Also her closest cousin was so protective of her that he only let her date _real_ gentleman.

Since her cousin Syaoran had moved the HQ of _Lady Yelan _- may her aunties soul rest with peace - to the UK, she had decided to tag along. It wasn't like all their other cousins weren't involved somewhat with up-holding the business in other parts of the world. If anything she enjoyed the change, and she felt that Syaoran getting away from the Clan Elders eyes for a while would do him some good.

Yet she still couldn't fathom why one Daidouji Tomoyo knew more of her cousin than she did. They had grown up together, and Meiling had helped Syaoran out through the whole fiance'e business when Tomoyo wasn't around, so why that woman - who he only knew from college, not his whole life - had more personal conversations with him than she did was outragous!

But now, it was all coming together.

Kinomoto may've ruined almost everything, but Meiling now had a second chance to make her cousin happy.

Well, she thought she did. Until Syaoran had a small temper-tentrum in his office.

Syaoran's office was very furnished. It was homely with a forest-green carpet, pine desk, draws and shelves, and the walls where white washed with red, gold and orange ornaments. Two comfy red love-seats sat before his desk, and a matching couch was to one side of the room. his own chair was large, and very well cusioned that he could just sink into it. Plotted plants were dotted over the room, and the shelves were filled with numerous colourful books, the wardrobe like cabinet stood taller than even Eriol, at 6'5". One half held a rack where clean suits and casual wear were placed in case of any situation. the other half was filled with smaller shelves. On one of the top shelves was a large cushion, that had once been his fathers - Li Xioulan had loved it when his wife and youngest child had visited, sadly Syaoran had usually fallen asleep, so the cushion was used for him to sleep on, which made quite the site - and was now a comfort to him, even at age 23.

Since Syaoran was a very small boy, he had always kept his emotions bottled up until he burst. The calmest way he could let out his anger was to take the large cushion, and scream into it while stomping on the spot for a few seconds.

So, being a CEO and as old as he was, it was a humorous sight that his cousin still loved to see.

Exhaling, Syaoran gathered himself, before looking over at the closed door where he could hear Meiling snickering from behind.

"Come in, Meiling," he sat down in his chair as the red-eyed woman entered and closed the door. He flopped back into the seat, and cuddled the large cushion in his arms, as he reguarded the woman before him. "Oh, grow up Meiling. At least I'm not hurting anyone."

"No, no. You're quite right. The only thing you're hurting is your reputation - not that you've ever cared about _that_." She slid into one of the seats opposite him, placing a mug of hot chocolate on the well placed wolf mat on his desk, and then sipped at her own herbal tea. "So, what was it this time?"

Shaking his head, he replied, "It's nothing, really."

Raising an eyebrow, Meiling scoffed. "Yeah, right. Anyway, I just want to ask - you drink that all up," she always reminded him of his mother when she did this, "- who this mystery man is. I mean, you really seem to like him."

Syaoran's eyes widened in surprise, although he knew he shouldn't be, Meiling always caught on to these type of things. Hell, she made it her business. "When did you know?"

"A few weeks after Kinomoto. You've never looked at women the same since. As for your mystery man? Well, you _do_ like to keep your calls to him long," she snickered again. Kinomoto was still a touchy subject, but he seemed to have gotten over her. "How far have you gotten?"

"What?" he choked out. He didn't really like to talk about such things to someone he regarded as a sister. But this _was_ Meiling, she just wanted to know every little detail. She was the _other_ hentai that he knew. He rubbed his temples, as he thought, _That makes three complete hentai's, and two semi-hentai's. What type of people am I surrounding myself with?_

"Well, have you gone all the way yet?" She stared at him over her cup, her eyes slanted awaiting her answer - not that she hadn't already guessed, mind.

* * *

She knew that she wouldn't be welcome. But after recieving that phone call, Sakura just had to see him.

She and Syaoran had met, and she had foolishly led him along taking his support and love in place of the loss of the man that she had just been rejected by. Syaoran had always been a stable support for her, and along with Meiling, the three were barely ever seperated. The proposal had been a slight shock, but she had jumped at it, feeling that she could get over her brothers lover with it. She had used him. And he had known. He had always known, but he had hoped that she would change and truely love him, just for being _him_.

And now, she wanted to explain it all in person. She wanted her best friends back, and she wanted to heal the gaping wound that still remained with them all.

Meiling stood as the green eyed model approached the desk. Crossing her arms, she reguarded the woman before motioning towards the office door.

"He know's you're here."

Nodding, Sakura braced herself, and entered the office.

* * *

Glancing up from the documents scattered neatly over his desk, Syaoran motioned to one of the plush chairs in front of the desk. Seating herself, Sakura studied the man before her.

He hadn't changed in her view. His messy chocolate bangs still framed his face hansomely, and his large amber eyes held that serious sharpness, yet the firery curiosity underneath could still be seen. He could never resist a mystery, she recalled. He was still well toned, and from what he wore, he seemed to have gotten a great fashion sense that was more casual looking that when they had first met. His lips were set in a slight quirk at whatever he had just read - he had always liked it when his employees added a personal touch to their reports, and this just confirmed to her that he hadn't changed much at all.

Although... something was different.

Eying him, Sakura crossed her knees, pulling the hem of her skirt down so that it didn't ride up. Something _had_ changed in him. And she hoped that she would have the oppotunity to know what.

"Did you need me for something?"

Jumping out of her study of him, Sakura realised that he had been staring back at her for a while now. Composing herself, she nodded, trying to word it all properly.

"I wanted to put things right- well as much as possible, anyway. I know that you must hate me.."

"I don't. Believe me, Sakura, hate is a word that I can never associate with you. No matter the circumstance." Her eyes widened in surprise, and she felt a bubble of happiness rise in her. "But, that doesn't mean that I forgive you."

"What were you expecting, Syaoran? You knew how I felt-"

"And you didn't do anything about it."

"W-well, that doesn't mean that I'm completely to blame," she protested.

"I'm aware of that. However, I thought that you're feelings had changed towards me. I thought that you were _in love_ with me. And _you_ knew that," his chin was set stubbonly, his hurt was concealed under many layers of distrust. She had started to change the way she had acted towards him as their relationship had progressed, and he had genuinely thought that she had fallen in love with him. "Besides, you could've just said 'no'."

Wincing, Sakura nodded solumly. That was too true. She had not handled it well at all.

"Look, what do you expect to happen? I can't trust you, even if I've forgiven you," Syaoran's eyes stayed firmly on hers, keeping their eye contact to gauge the womans reaction.

"You've forgiven me? Syaoran, I never expected you to trust me, or forgive me. But, I do want to be friends. You, me and Meiling..."

"And Tomoyo."

"Hoe?"

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Even Meiling had to smile.

It been so long since she had heard that expression. Syaoran had felt it endearing, and had made constant jokes about the implications of shouting it out in the middle of the street as the green eyed teen had tended to do. A frown re-settled onto her face once more as she sighed. Syaoran may have forgived her, but Meiling didn't find it so easy. And it hadn't even been her heart.

They were proberly dicussing the blind-date, and Meiling was deciding if she should day anything about it. While Sakura and Tomoyo seemed to be a perfect match, the designer didn't know what the model was made of. And even if Meiling was slightly annoyed at the bond between her cousin and Satan re-incarnated (Tomoyo), she still liked the girl. If just for the shoes that she had leant her.

Shuffling some papers around her desk while trying to listen in on the rest of the discussion, Meiling noticed from the corner of her eye as a very hansome silverette approached her desk. Cold honey locked with blood-red. And Meiling knew that Syaoran's trouble was only just starting.

Biting her lip, she made an almost unconcious decision, and picked up her phone, dialing a number that only one other person in the building knew.

Within the next thirty minutes, shouting had burst out of the CEO's office, despite the closed door, and the silverette sitting nearby sighed sadly. Sakura's voice was highly evident, and he was surprised to hear such venom coming from her. The whole floor heard the argument, and most were quite surprised to find that their employers voice was not as commanding as it usually was, if anything it sounded like it had cracked in one or two places. Nevertheless, he held his ground, and it was a last biting comment that had the green-eyed model fleeing from the room, angry tears streaming down her cheeks.

Syaoran had then placed on a jacket and had left his office not speaking or listening to the quiet babbling of his workers.

It was then that Meiling took the phone off speaker.

"I have to go. I need to take over things here. Bye."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Eriol had cancelled all of his meetings and within the same hour he had turned up on Syaoran's apartment doorstep. And he was horrified to see the brunettes eyes red-rimmed. Syaoran wouldn't meet his eyes, and all he could do was hold out his arms to comfort the other man.

Meiling's phone call had been a surprise, but one he was eternally grateful to her for.

* * *

**Brooding Darkness:** I know, I know. Its all over the place, but everything is still being set up, and I've even managed to get the two sub-plots going! As for the darker themes? Bame the songs I was listening to whilest writing this (_New York Minute_ by Don Henley for instance). Please review! Thank you! More fluff still to come!


	8. Part 6

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

**NOTE:** I am still job hunting, while trying to get to writing. So, thank you for being so patient!

_Serious thing:_ Yay! 34 reviews! So, please continue reviewing! All comments are welcome, and I've always value critism. Thank you!

Meiling is becoming more devious by the second, and with Tomoyo combined, what on Earth could they get up to? And with Syaoran retreating slightly, how will his relationship fare? Will he be better before the competition? Who knows... *Sighs dumbly*

**Review Replies:**

**Noir-San:** Thank you! I think your english is pretty good, considering you can read this. I can't speak anything other than a little french and a tiny bit of japanese. Anyway, I'm glad that you like it, and Eriol is going to be in it alot more from here on - he is the second main character. Haha! Thank you once again!

**Sakura evil twin of Sango:** Thank you so much for your review! Heres the next update! Thank you!

**lietothedevil:** YAY! More Eriol/Syaoran lovers! I'm glad that you like it so much. *Grins broadly* Thank you so much!

**mandarin'peel:** Thank you for the review! In my head the real main characters include Meiling and she _is_ cool. She is going to be a part of a the main-stream plot and her own little sub-plot. But don't feel too bad, Syaoran is with Eriol, so he's good for now, and Sakura will be dealt with soon. Don't hate her just yet, if only for our Tomoyo's sake. Thank you very much!

**A big thank you to all of my reviewers once again! *Bows low with a silly grin on face***

Okay, one last thing:

-#-#-#-#-#- is time change  
the straight line is scene change

**Gypsy Dance  
**by Brooding Darkness

**Part 6**

Really, they were a wonderful pair of shoes.

Meiling sat in her cousins office, sitting in his large chair - a really _comfy_ chair - across from the ever smiling designer. It had been two hours since Syaoran had walked out of the building, and after calming everyone down to the best of her capabilities - there was no way to crush _all_ of the rumours that were spiraling from the row - and she had called the young woman before her to inform her of current events.

"Meiling... If Syaoran had thought bad of Sakura-san he wouldn't've¹ set us up."

"I know," she sighed, sipping at her frest cup of green tea. "But Sakura's not everything she seems. She'll lead you, and then she'll be too scared to back out until the last minute... like she did with Syaoran."

Shaking her head sadly, Tomoyo was still unsure of what to think. Her date with the green-eyed model had been wonderful. More than that, it had been _perfect_. And despite what her best female friend was saying to her, she just couldn't quite believe it.

"What was so bad? I mean, yes, she hurt Syaoran - and no one wants that - but how late did she leave it? You said they were engaged..."

"Yes, they were engaged. It was horrible! They had set a date, they had everything prepared, Syaoran had cooked the food himself - not that anyone else knows that - and everything was ready!"

"Then what happened?"

"She left him at the alter. She didn't even turn up to the church," venom slid over her words as she remembered the amber eyed eight-teen year old sat in the front pew, eyes never crying, only staring blankly ahead when the news of her unwillingness had reached him. "She had sent a cowardly message to the church receptionist, and no one knew where she was. Syaoran was beyond crushed... he was empty. Syaoran... Syaoran had promised his mother before she died that he would marry for the family. And Syaoran always keeps his promises. _Always_. Aunt Yelan died three weeks before the wedding, and it was the only thing keeping him going... After she had left... he threw himself into his work. The business was his outlet.

_You_ were is outlet."

Tomoyo blinked at that. Cocking her head, she frowned slightly. "_I_ was his outlet? How?"

"He knew you through college, and you contacted him a year after the wedding fiasco. Your involvement in becoming partners in your business with him fixed him. Well, not completely. I think his new lover has finished that." Crossing her legs, Meiling watched the amethyst eyed woman as she thought through all of this.

"Alright. Sakura-san needs watching, I'll agree on that. But what should I do? I like her. But I don't want to hurt Syaoran further."

"You won't. _She_ won't. I've got a plan," she smirked, red eyes twinkling once again.

"Good." Smirking, Tomoyo had sprung back into her usual mood. "By the way... about this new lover..."

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

From a re-scedule, Tsukishiro Yue was now sat outside his twins' lovers', younger sisters', ex-fiance's office awaiting the call-in. He was internally wary after the shouting that had occured the day before (really, he had never heard such venom from the young woman before) and a part of him wished that his annoying twin would do this instead.

"You can go in now, Yue-san," Meiling spoke from her seat behind her desk.

Standing, the silverette nodded slightly to her in recognition before he walked through the indicated door. The red-eyed woman had always struck him as odd, as her mood tended to swing from bouncy to cruel to upset and back to happy again in a matter of seconds, with no masks involved. Truly, she was quite an enigma. And one Yue preferred to leave well enough alone.

Closing the door, Yue focused his attention on the grant money that he and Yukito wished to recieve from the _Lady Yelan_ to open up a new production building.

"Ah, Yue-san. Its good to see you again. My sincerest apologies for the re-scedule," Syaoran's voice was indeed fully sincere, and the silverette noticed that the brunettes eyes were slightly darker than the last time they had met, but not as dark as he had thought they would be considering yesterdays performance.

"Its quite alright. Yukito thought that I might benefit from knowing the cause of Sakura-san's upset last night. I, however, am not getting involved."

At this Syaoran's face lit up with a smile. Almost chuckling, he indicated the chair in front of him, saying, "Thats just like you, Yue-san. You haven't changed in all the time I've known you."

Taking the offered seat, Yue replied, "Why should I change? Am I not perfect as I am?"

It took a moment, but Syaoran's slight startle saw the glint in the others eye. This made him chuckle outright.

_Mission accomplised_, Yue thought to himself. Syaoran was always easier to deal with when he was in a good mood. Even for Yue.

"Too true. You are indeed, perfect as you are. Now, about this grant. I am more than willing to give it to you, however, one of my assistants much be with you when you choose the building to make sure that it is appropiate, as the grant will be representing you, and inturn, me. Is that to your agreement?" Syaoran's business tone was stong and knowing. This was one of the brunettes main areas of strength, and he was always professional, regardless of the circumstance.

"That is something that I can fully agree with, and I welcome your assistant to help me personally view the three already chosen buildings. We will view the three in turn, before choosing the most appropiate. If neither meet the assistants or your own standards, then I hope we can re-visit this issue when a new building more suitable is found."

"Agreed."

Shaking hands, Yue silently begged that the 'assistant' was someone from the front desks of this level.

"You can take Meiling."

* * *

It was early morning and Eriol was sipping his usual cup-of-tea-to-go² as he viewed the models entering the large garden area for a new shoot. The photographer was getting the lights set up as the blunette stood to one side viewing the area. It was quite pretty really. Being a late summer setting, the female models were all dressed in whites and browns, with the odd red or orange added in to give an almost autumn feel to it. But there was one model he was watching in particular.

The long white summer dress lined with brown/orange leaves, and a 1940's styled hat set off a beautiful image of the past brought to life in the present. Sakura always did have one of those 40's figures and faces, and this particular wardrobe set it off wonderfully.

She had already worn three previous outfits, and not a word had passed between them.

If Sakura was hoping to find sympathy from him, she was greatly mistaken.

He had managed to get most of the story out of his crying lover before the brunette had fallen asleep in his arms, and from what he had pieced together from the story and the phone call was that Syaoran had been hurt, and it was close enough to intentional that Eriol was rightly furious with the green-eyed beauty.

Finishing up on the last photos for the white hat and dress ensamble, Sakura made her way slowly over to the bluenette. He was stood with his tea in hand, staring out at the various activities ongoing for the shoot. This was actually an important shoot as it was to feature in the centre page of the magazine - one of the worlds biggest - and the design was to be the main centre-piece for this years fashion ball in London. It would then move onto New York, and then Paris, before finishing in Venice.

Really, he should be paying closer attention.

But his mind was elsewhere, which brought the green-eyed model into his sights. Smiling blandly, he waited for her to finish her slow approach. When she stood next to him, she took a deep breath, and let out a quite whine.

"News has the tendency to spread fast in this business. Yet, I've known you for four years, and not once have you spoken about your engagement to Li Syaoran," his voice was cold, but not entirely unkind. Sakura's face revealed the shock that he had felt the night before, and she ended up swallowing her words before they had a chance to escape her mouth.

"H-How did-did you find out?"

"Thats not important right now Sakura. If you have a background like that, you tell me. I can't be your manager and I can't protect you if you with-hold such information. What if I had found out through the papers, Sakura? What would have happened then? It would look bad on you, on me, and on the company, and in turn, anyone associated with the company. Think, Kinomoto-san. Or it will be the death of your career."

Smiling widely as though nothing had happened, Eriol pushed away from the table slightly, getting ready to speak with the photographer about _the _picture. Not even turning, he pratically threw over his shoulder, "As for Daidouji Tomoyo-san? She's a good rival of mine, and she's also a good friend of this company as of tomorrow. I may have set the two of you up, but I won't appreciate you hurting her too."

With that, he didn't inteact or speak with her for the rest of the shoot.³

* * *

**Notes your Inner-Gypsy's should know of:**

_¹ wouldn't've: _Well, to the best of my knowledge, this *is* a word. Or at least to us Mancunians it is. If you don't know what it means, basically its "would not have" all in one go.

² Yes, he is _still_ getting that same drink from the same shop. Maybe with a little unknowing hope ^_^

³ For a model's reputation, the director/producer/manager ignoring her is a ba~d sign. I wanted this to show just how annoyed Eriol was with Sakura. He's so annoyed that he's being unprofessional with her, and he still hasn't informed her of what he's really mad at.

**Brooding Darkness:** Who loves Meiling? She's great right? Anyway, I better stop here. Its already 1'733 words, and thats without the authors imput. More will be up soon! Please review! Thank you! The fluff will come!


	9. Part 7

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

**NOTE:** My laptop has been broken for a while now, and I've just bought my new one, so I apologise for this taking so long to get up! Thank you for being so patient!

Serious thing: I know that some writers value the story over the reviews, but critique is appreciated, so if you find any faults in the fic, please review! I'd love to know! Thank you!

**Review Replies:**

**Ninor-san:** Awww! Sakura isn't that bad! Yes, she's selfish, but she also has her reasons. Anyway, I'm glad that you're enjoying this! And everyone has to love Meiling! She was my favourite character when I first watched the show. Thank you so much for reviewing!

**Sakura evil twin of Sango:** I'm sorry the update wasn't as fast as it should have been! Thank you sooooo much! *Bows*

**aishababy:** Thank you!! I am trying to make them longer, but sometimes I need to end them in certain places so that the next chappie is better structured. Thank you so much though!! I'm really happy that you love this all so much!

**kuropie:** Thank you! I'm glad you like it!

**mochiusagi:** I know, Syaoran has it had right now. Thank you for reviewing!

**jahrain:** I love Meiling too! She rules! Hopefully there'll be more fluff soon. Thank you!!!

**A big thank you to all of my reviewers once again! I always appreciate it!**

**Gypsy Dance  
**by Brooding Darkness

**Part 7**

Life had thrown some strange things at him.

Eriol has always been considered the complete gentleman, and he had always acted as such regardless of the situation – even towards people he practically hated. His composed nature had not been breached by anything.

He had taken the death of his parents at the tender age of eight with someone in his mid-thirties. He had remained composed enough to sort out the funeral and help along his saddened older sister, Nakuru, through the whole mess.

When he had been rejected from his first modelling job, and then later rejected by potential clients, he had still remained composed.

Yet, somehow, despite his experience as a gentleman and holding his smile for all the world to see, the tears that had made their way down lightly tanned cheeks had made him very angry. And it was very difficult for him to hold his infamous composure.

_#The Night After Syaoran and Sakura Argued...#_

Leaning lightly against the doorframe, Eriol watched as his lover tried to dig his face further into the sky blue pillow. Sipping from his cup of tea, the businessman let his eyes stray over Syaoran's pretty figure.

"You do know that you can't disappear into the mattress, don't you?"

"Shut up."

Pushing away from the door, Eriol stepped completely into the room, a small smile flickering over his face at the brunettes' typical response. Walking over to the bed, Eriol placed the drink onto the side-table, and sat on the floor, one hand on his now bent knee, the other rubbing Syaoran's side.

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For putting up with me. I know I'm acting like a child."

"You're most certainly not," frowning, Eriol moved to look straight into the others eyes. "You have every right to be angry at her. She left you, with no explanation, and then she had the cheek to see you and bring up all that pain. You my dear little one, are acting as you should."

Scowling, Syaoran sat up completely, crossing his long legs and glaring at the bluenette.

"First, don't throw my apologies back in my face: I rarely give them, so be grateful. Secondly, _don't _call me 'little one'. I hate it. And thirdly, Sakura has just as much right seeing me as _you_ do. Yes, our most recent history is bad, but she used to be my best friend, and I _was_ going to marry her. It doesn't matter how much she hurt me, I won't be angry at her for leaving."

Blinking, Eriol raised his eyebrows slightly taken aback at the strength of the anger that he just been thrown at him. "Why? Why won't you be angry at her? You should be. _I_ am."

"You don't have the right to be angry. It's none of your business as to why I'm not angry, and you shouldn't be involved at all." Standing, Syaoran manoeuvred off of the bed and out the bedroom door, throwing over his shoulder: "Sorry for bothering you. Obviously I came to the wrong place."

Also standing, Eriol watched Syaoran move out of sight, and listened to the main door shut a few moments later.

It was moments like these that his composure failed him.

_#Evening After the Photo Shoot...#_

Yes, Eriol was well aware that he had been completely unprofessional, and his composure had slipped somewhat. But, he was still Sakura's manager, and he needed to work with her, if not for her sake, then for Syaoran's.

* * *

Sticking the last pin into the mannequin, Tomoyo stepped back to admire her work. Although it was only the early stages, she knew that this would be her masterpiece.

Every year, the new summer line was a success, and it was always due to the last article of clothing: her masterpiece. The theme this year was an autumn summer, full of reds, browns, golds and whites. So, naturally, her masterpiece would enforce that, while bringing a new fashion into being.

Sighing, the young designer shook her head to herself, not really feeling the look.

Then again, she hadn't been able to get into her designs for a while now. It wasn't that anything bad was going on – not that there wasn't, what with Syaoran and Sakura almost at each other's throats – it was just that she didn't _feel_ the designs any more. Once she had new designs by the minute, and every single one would fill her with a purpose of some kind. However, that purpose had slowly been leaving her, and the only thing that had brought it out was Syaoran.

Letting her make clothes for him, and watching those amber eyes light up in awe and delight at her work had made her feel special again. And her designs had a purpose again.

But for the past few months that feeling had started to disappear. And she didn't know why.

***Ring Ring Ring Ring***

"Hello, Daidouji Tomoyo speaking?"

"_Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to get something to drink?_"

"Syaoran! Why haven't you called me? I've been worried sick! And Meiling's looking for you," hand on hip, she let the relief flood through her. He hadn't spoken to anyone for almost a day – which was unusual since he always at least texted before going to bed – and they had rang around everywhere they could think of.

"_I'm sorry. I disappeared for a while. I had to. I'm at work now, and I've spoken to Meiling. She'll be joining us for drinks if you're up to it?_"

Nodding to herself, she smiled realising _why_ he hadn't called. 'Disappeared' was code for 'danced somewhere until I felt better'. Syaoran had taken a job somewhere and had let everything flow out there. It was his usual method for dealing with harsh situations – such as the Malight saga – and it was one that usually took his mind off of who he really was.

'Gypsy' ruled on those nights.

"I'd love to. And, we need to talk," she grabbed for her purse, not caring that the styling room was a complete mess, and looked for her coat. "Right now?"

"_Yeah. And, Tomoyo? ....Thanks._"

***Beep***

Smiling, the amethyst eyed woman wondered how such a gentle man had managed to come out of all of this.

* * *

"Gah! That man can be _so_ infuriating!"

Laughing, Tomoyo watched as Meiling threw her mobile into her bag, and glaring after it.

"Who?"

"Tsukshiro Yue. Yukito's twin. He wanted somewhere big and furnished, but not so big that there's too much space, and not too furnished that changes can't be made. We just went to nine different buildings – all completely fine and to standard – and all he can say is 'This isn't accurate enough for the businesses requirements'. Well, I can tell him where to shove those requirements," she sneered harshly.

"But you're too professional and too much of a lady to say such things even if you think them," Syaoran interjected sitting down with their drinks. Smiling slightly at the two girls, he watched them both roll their eyes.

"Of course not!"

"Of course she is!"

Blinking at each other, eyebrows raised, they missed the quiet snort issued from the CEO. Shrugging, Meiling picked up her cup and studied her cousin.

"How are you feeling?"

Still smiling, he nodded. "I'm fine. Really. Last night helped at lot. Besides, it's about time that the past remained in the past. And it's not fair dragging it up just to blame one person."

" 'Blame one person'? Syaoran, she left you with no clue to her whereabouts, breaking your heart," Tomoyo frowned.

"_And_ she didn't even hint that she was going to do it. And that _fake_ apology! With the way she was yelling at you, it was almost like _you_ left _her_!" Meiling said, vehemently.

Shaking his head, Syaoran stared down at his drink. "It doesn't matter that I didn't know where she was, only that she was safe. And it doesn't matter that she broke my heart then. I'd rather she broke it _then_ before we married, than _now_ afterwards. And Sakura isn't the only one to blame, I am too."

"What?!" They spoke simultaneously.

"Why? What did you do but love her?" Meiling uttered.

"That's just it. I _loved_ her. Possibly too much. I pressured her, and she felt responsible for almost marrying me. For putting me in that position. I was mainly at fault. She only did what was right." Sighing, Syaoran sipped at his drink, recalling the comments she had thrown, rightfully, his way. He had done just as much harm to her as she had to him. And she was taking most of the blame. "I'm not running away from this anymore. I let her take all the blame back then because I didn't want to think about it. But she's still my Ying-Fa. She's still one of my best friends, even if it's not the same. And I need to own up to my part."

"What?! Are you crazy? What on Earth has she made you believe?" The red eyed receptionist gaped.

"Alright then. So you feel the need to own up to some of the blame? And by the sound of it, you should," here Meiling gaped in anger and shock at the other woman, "but it was her own fault for hurting herself, and in turn _you_, by not rejecting the proposal in the first place. And in some ways, for leading you to proposing to her. Yes, perhaps you pressured her somewhat, but she defiantly had the strength to say 'no' to you."

"Syaoran isn't to blame. At all."

"Meiling, I am. And... Tomoyo's right. Maybe.. maybe I'm not as much to blame as I thought, but I still need to own up to what I've done. To what we _both_ did."

Slumping back into her seat, Meiling chewed on the inside of her cheek mulling this over. Sakura was still mostly to blame. But maybe it _was_ time to move past it.

"Okay. So, you're both to blame. Where does that leave you? As best friends again?" The sarcasm dripped from her voice, despite trying to hold it back.

"No. There's no going back to that just yet, if at all. But maybe.." Sighing, the secret dancer didn't quite know how to finish the sentence.

"...As mutual acquaintances." So, Tomoyo finished it for him.

* * *

Smiling brightly, Kinomoto Sakura did what she did best. She carried on. Walking down the practice runway, Sakura stalked pristinely letting the light weight of the veil-like material flow out around her athletic legs.

She had come into work despite wanting the day off, but she wasn't about to quit over something that she had accepted years ago. Syaoran had been her biggest, and best, mistake in so many ways.

He had been kind, loving, caring, and everything a boyfriend then fiancé should be. And yet it had still felt wrong. So, she had accepted the proposal. It was the right thing at the time. They were childhood sweethearts. Young lovers. And yet her attraction to him stopped at those eyes, and his huge heart.

Yes, she knew very well how much she was to blame for what had happened. She had left behind and ruined her one realness in her life. And she had never felt so free.

Stepping to the end of the runway, the green eyed model swayed her hips to the music slightly, smiling brightly to the non-audience of empty seats, and twisted before re-walking the length of the platform.

Arms swaying lightly, Sakura wondered what it would take to make her ex-fiancé understand that.

Walking down the side steps, she began unfastening the back zipper.

"How was that?"

"Wonderful as always, Sakura-chan. You really are flawless at this."

Whipping her head around, she stood facing her manager. His infamous Cheshire Cat smile planted warmly, securely, on his face.

**

* * *

**

**Brooding Darkness: **I really hope that this was worth the wait! The next chapter will be up soon! And if you want to know what the Malight saga is, then maybe I'll make an extra bonus for you! Thank you for reading! *Bows*


	10. Part 8

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

**AN:** Yay! Got this up quicker than most! I know, it makes a change. Thanks for sticking with me!

**Review Replies:**

**mochiusagi:** Thank you!! Yeah, Syaoran has a tendency to blame himself for things. But Meiling and Tomoyo will sort him out yet! ^_^ Thank you!!!

**Sakura evil twin of Sango:** I'm you like it! Thank you for reviewing!!

**NOTE:** Alright, with updates being slightly quicker, I can understand people not necessarily reviewing. However, with 5'286 hits and only 42 reviews, it seems more than a bit ridiculous. Please review! Flames are just as welcome as one or two worded reviews, and feedback is always appreciated. Thank you.

**Gypsy Dance  
**by Brooding Darkness

**Part 8**

"You think so, Eriol-san?"

"Yes. Your performance is just as good as the mask you wear," he said, walking with her into the back changing rooms while she continued to remove the dress.

"Right now, Eriol-san, I'm not wearing a mask. Emotional or otherwise."

"Oh? My mistake."

Slipping the blue cloth onto the chair where one of the designers would re-hang it, the green eyed woman viewed the man through the mirror while changing jewellery.

"Don't look at me like that. Or speak to me like that, either. It's your fault for setting me up with Tomoyo-chan. And I still like her, a lot." Smiling at the memory of the dinner that had had together, Sakura remembered the beautiful curves of amethyst eyes and pure pink lips that she had gotten to kiss.

"I wasn't aware of the situation, Sakura-san. You should have told me. And not just because of Syaoran. I'm your manager, and I _need_ to know these things. What if the papers caught wind of it? Syaoran's a head CEO of one of the largest companies in the world. He could easily buy us out if he wanted to. And _you're_ one of the world's top models. It'd be a scandal for the both of you. I need to know all the facts if I'm to protect you."

"Protect me? You didn't seem to want to protect me a few days ago, Eriol. If anything, you were too busy protecting _him_. Which, by the way, he can do just fine on his own. You don't know him like I do." She frowned at him, instinctively pouting slightly.

Rolling the next outfit over her hips, Sakura made her way back to the catwalk.

"He's a big boy, Eriol-san. And he can do things to people that would make anyone cower."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Frowning right back, Eriol paled slightly more than usual. "Did he do something to you? Did he hurt you?"

"No," she laughed. "That's not what I meant. What I meant was: That if Syaoran wanted to confront me, he would've found me after I'd left him at the altar, and had done so personally. You've never seen an angry Syaoran."

"I have actually. Twice."

Shaking her head, she waltzed beautifully down the platform, a perfect smile in place – nothing betraying the annoyance that was building up towards her manager. She had forgiven Syaoran long ago for loving her. And she hoped that he would start to forgive her completely. But Eriol's way wasn't the right one.

Stepping out from the arch, she looked at the bluenette. "No, you haven't. You've seen him annoyed, agitated, and probably frustrated. But never angry. _I've_ only seen it once. And I'd never like to see it again."

"Once? Is it really that bad?" Once again, he followed her into the back rooms while she changed. Seeing naked or partially dressed people was a part of his profession. If it came with the job, it wouldn't faze him. Just like everything else.

"Yes," shuddering at the memory, she gulped lightly before taking a breath. "I both loved and hated him for it. I still do to an extent. I much prefer him frustrated, for more than the obvious reason." Mentally hitting herself for how that sounded, and the fact that she had even thought it like that under such circumstances, she carried on letting him wonder about an angered Syaoran.

Rolling her eyes at her mirror-image, she secretly agreed with Meiling. Sakura was one of Syaoran's semi-perverted friends. And it struck at the weirdest times.

* * *

Sighing, Syaoran placed the phone back onto its receiver. Yet another company asking for business advice. Really, as smart and hard working as he was, he didn't have time for every little query. Rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes, the brunette pondered over his personal problems.

One, Meiling was obviously going to rant again about Yue _still_ not having picked the new corporate building, and she was going to dump him with her personal affairs of still being single, and never having a personal life.

Two, the last thing he had said to Eriol had been harsh and uncalled for, despite the content, and Eriol had only been trying to help. The poor man didn't know everything that had happened, and he feared the time when the manager would.

Three, the dance competition was fast approaching, and he still had nothing to wear, to dance to, or any moves that were or weren't allowed. He was also unsure of what he was even going to do. It left him biting his lip, and wondering why he hadn't killed the man who had gotten him into the situation in the first place.

Four, he really needed to contact Sakura, and this time talk it through properly. She needed to know his position, and he needed to completely listen to hers. Without yelling and cursing at each other. If not for them, then for Tomoyo. The two had seemed to hit it off, and the designer deserved someone good, and kind for her. It was about time the woman found love.

//_Speaking of Tomoyo.._// And five, he was definitely going to take her out for some fun. She was overworking herself way too much with this year's Summer fashion.

***Knock Knock***

"Yes?" Sitting up, the brunette pushed the issues to one side and got back to business. His business.

"Tsukshiro Yue wished to speak with you."

Hiding the smile at his receptionist's tone, he nodded for the man to come in.

It was still strange after all these years, that Yue was nothing like Yukito in any way. Yue was cold, blunt, and preferred his long silver hair to be loose or tied in a complicated bun. He never gave away his feelings, and he never showed he cared. Not even for his slightly younger brother.

While Yukito was warm, bright, and always full of life – as well as an empty stomach. With short silver hair, Yukito was always open about his feelings, and always showed that he cared. Even about people he didn't know. But especially for his slightly elder brother.

Even their sexuality's were different.

"What can I do for you, Yue-san?" Smiling slightly, he indicated one of the seats in front of his desk.

"I want you to send someone else to help me in my task."

Blinking, Syaoran felt fortunate on being just as good as Yue at controlling his emotions. "And why is that, exactly?"

"That woman is too simple. She does not search for the required building with the professional atmosphere expected of one of her position. She has not sense of what is considered too furnished or too large, and she has no taste in architecture."

At the sound of shock coming from behind his closed office door, Syaoran was once again grateful for his ability to control himself.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to correct you. Meiling is the best at what she does. She found the Porcelain* building after all, and I sent her here two months before hand to secure the building. I took no part in the choosing or negotiation of any of company buildings. I leave that to Meiling as my personal secretary and assistant. She is more than capable of doing her job."

Smiling inwardly at knowing the huge smile that was no doubt on Meiling's face, he watched Yue processes the conversations turning.

"She will fulfil the requirements, then?"

"Yes."

Sighing, the silver haired man nodded, before standing and shaking Syaoran's hand.

"As always, I will trust your judgment. However, it will take much longer to find the appropriate location this way."

"Believe me, it'll be worth it. It always is."

* * *

Smiling, Meiling sighed happily. This was definitely the one. There was no way, no conceivable way, that he could refuse the beauty and intelligent structure of the building.

"No. This doesn't fit the appropriateness of the business."

Turning on her stiletto heels, she clamped her jaw, took a deep breath, and glared at him.

"And why exactly, is it inappropriate?"

"Because," here he pointed to the large windows reaching from the ceiling to the floor, running all the way down the building's length, "it's too open to the public. This is only the first floor, and yet everyone can see it. It also causes the building to be too light."

Gritting her teeth, Meiling breathed through her nose for a moment with her eyes closed, inwardly cursing the God's, Syaoran, Yue and Yukito for putting her into such a position, before smiling brightly at the silver haired man.

"Alright then. Let's move on to the next location."

Nodding in reply, he followed her down the stairs and out of the main foyer, through the main doors and out onto the street.

It was a beautiful, crisp morning, and with no sign of rain Yue felt that it was a good day to continue his hunt for the perfect business location. Yukito would never forgive him if he messed this up.

Watching and following the retreating back of the dark haired woman, Yue felt that she was not only incompetent at her job, but also highly over-rated due to personal relations. So far the woman had yet to show him anything resembling his stated requirements, and he was partially sure that she was just doing it to get him back for the last Christmas party where he had refused to dance with her.

The softer side of him – the side that only Yukito was privileged to – wanted to believe that she really was being professional, and showing him her genuinely picked buildings. That side of him believed fully that she was incompetent.

"Don't worry, we'll find it yet," she smiled, breaking him from his thoughts.

Looking straight at her, with the sun bouncing off her long hair, tastefully held back in two Chinese-style buns, head tilted and balancing on one very thin heel, it was a wonder why she was still single.

"You just have to continue dragging that stick out of your backside, and we'll get there," she giggled turning back to the direction they were heading in.

Ah, that was why.

Sighing inwardly, he wondered not for the second time why Syaoran found such a quality endearing. When it had started to crop up in Sakura, the two became far more attached, and look where that had led them.

No, it was best to have a nice, quiet relationship that both could give and take gently from. One that he had witnessed himself to be a complete success. If his brother was anything to go off anyway.

Rubbing the ache from her head, Tomoyo listened to the drone of her assistants babbling on about how she never cleaned up after herself anymore, and how she was behind on her designs by a day – which in her business was a lot.

Smiling, she apologised secretly blaming her friends for all the trouble that could cause just by opening their mouths, and then grinned as an idea for payback entered her mind. It wasn't going to be nearly as good as her rival's was for Syaoran, but it was close.

Routing for her mobile, Tomoyo continued to ignore the complaints of her juniors and typed in the operator's** number.

* * *

**Brooding Darkness:** Thank you so much for reading!

_Notes_:

* This is just the name of a local building that I made up. It supports the deliveries of the trading companies, making sure that everything gets to be where it should. And everything is treated delicately, hence 'Porcelain'.

** For those of you unaware, the 'operator' is the company that you call to get any number. Yes, _any_ number. Believe me, I asked. And you don't want to know.


	11. Part 9

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

**NOTE:** Sorry for not getting this up sooner! I hope you enjoy, and the characters aren't too OOC! Thank you!

**Review Replies:**

**mochiusagi:** Thank you so much for reviewing! Yeah, I love Yue! Thank you!

**Carrottuce:** Thank you! I am trying to keep this up, so thank you so much for the support!

**SanguisRebeus:** I'm trying to! Thank you!

**ArtistOfLight:** Thank you! Actually, I usually like Sakura, but since she and Syaoran have such a hard past so she comes off as a bit of a bint, but she _is_ a love/hate character for most people. I'm glad that you like it so much. Thank you once again!

**A big Thank you to all of my reviewers for being so faithful once again!**

**NOTE2:**

"Blah blah blah" is speech  
"_Blah blah blah_" is the person talking on the other end of the phone

**Gypsy Dance  
**by Brooding Darkness

**Part 9**

Spinning on one foot, arms held out at chest level, lightly toned arms swayed lightly outwards, the spinning continually creating a pretty swirl of colours. Upper body moving to the side, arms and flexed hands leading the way, the dancer brought his arms back into a loop, putting towards himself and starting a second spin.

Transfixed, Eriol stood peering into the apartments studio.

Movements fluid, Syaoran swayed to a music that only he could hear, his martial arts lending flexibility and grace to the movements that for most would seem unnatural and different.

Here, Syaoran moved from step to step with great ease.

It was strange really, how someone with no tutoring or instruction could dance steps that professional dancers strived for years to achieve, could perform them entirely subconsciously and yet with such precision.

Just like the first time Eriol had seen Syaoran dance, he felt enchanted, aroused and awed by the pure beauty of the young man. This was 'Gypsy'. The dancer that got on stage just to dance for the pure joy of it.

Licking his lips, the bluenette backed out to the living area where he could calm himself. He had come here to speak with Syaoran seriously, and here he was, already flustered and wanting to take the dance to a whole new area, made for two.

Shaking his head, Eriol forced his thoughts from _that_ area and onto more pressing problems.

"Hentai."

"We are who we are, Syaoran. Besides, it's _your_ fault for letting me watch."

Rolling his eyes at the obvious excuse, Syaoran drank from his water bottle, indicating for Eriol to sit. The light blue material of the brunettes' shirt clung to his sweat-coated form, and Eriol had to cross his legs to keep himself in check.

"You wanted to talk?" Syaoran asked sitting opposite the bluenette.

"Yes, about you and Sakura mainly."

"But you want to talk about something else, too?" The brunette rose one of his eyebrow.

"Of course. I'm sure that we'll be discussing more... enjoyable things soon, though." Smiling, Eriol let his eyes wonder. Syaoran just glared right back. "However, we _do_ need to address this situation between the two of you," he continued, turning serious. Re-crossing his legs, the bluenette pushed his glasses further up his nose so that the reflection of the light hid his eyes.

"That's none of your business," Syaoran replied curtly.

"Actually, since I'm Sakura's agent, and _your_ lover, it is."

Keeping his gaze cool, Syaoran placed the water bottle onto the table. "Just because we've slept together twice, doesn't mean you can control me _or_ my life, and even if you're Sakura's agent you don't have any business butting in. We're both grown adults and we can fix things ourselves."

"Perhaps, and yet each time you meet you seem to be upset. Perhaps you need a mediator?"

"Oh, don't be so coy, Hiiragizawa. You have no right to interfere, and you're just annoyed by that fact, so shut up and get on with your own life!" He snapped at the other man, standing once more.

This conversation hadn't gone the way that either of them had wanted it to go, but since they were here, Eriol thought that he should address a second issue that he had been thinking on for the past few days.

"Alright then, lets focus on 'getting on with my life' shall we? Just what are we then, if not lovers? What do we both get out of being together?" Showing his equally cool eyes to Syaoran, Eriol sat forward watching every move the younger man made. "I had thought that we had something between us, and I was hoping for something to come out of it."

"I don't know! There was something-_is_ something between us, but we don't know each other enough! I don't do this, Eriol. I don't meet people and form relationships this fast, and I certainly don't let them get this close to me!" Pacing the length of the small living area, Syaoran rubbed his upper arms as if cold. "I mean, it took Tomoyo three years before I could trust her enough to tell her things, and I was in love with Sakura for four years before we entered a relationship. I _don't_ do the things that we've been doing, Eriol."

"Syaoran-"

"No! No. I don't want to hear it. Whatever it is, I don't want to know," his voice croaked slightly as he came to a standstill in the middle of the room, head in his hands. Not even a second later, strong arms wrapped themselves around his waist, pulling him close. "I don't know."

* * *

Rubbing small circles into the sides of her head, Tomoyo closed her eyes against the silk and cotton fabrics splayed out on the desk in front of her. Her headache had steadily become a migrane and by the sound of crashing in the next room from her assistants, it wasn't about to go away.

"Just get this next piece done, and you can take a break," she muttered to herself.

"Miss Tomoyo! Those idiots at the cloth company were dealing with have mixed up our order, and they keep telling me that our materials won't come until tomorrow!"

"Oh, Gods," the amethyst eyed woman groaned. Turning to the assisstant she smiled as best she could under the circumstances. "Alright, well, we'll just have to get everything else done today, won't we?"

"Yes, Miss Tomoyo."

"Alright. Good," turning back to the almost completed dress, Tomoyo felt dispair settle in for the smallest of moments. Taking a deep breath, she flipped open her phone and made a call. "Hi, Sakura? Can you meet me in an hour?"

* * *

Dressed in a light blue strappy top and a knee-length skirt, Tomoyo sipped lightly at her herbal tea as she waited for Sakura to arrive. Her headache had subsided somewhat when she had left the office, but she still felt the almost constant ache dwell in the back of her mind. The young designer felt that she was failing in imagination again, but she was determined to see this project through to the end, and then depending on circumstances, she would take a long, overdue holiday.

"Hey!"

Looking up with a genuine smile on her face, Tomoyo was greeted with the wonderful sight of Sakura dressed in a dark yellow t-shirt and flared jeans. Sitting in the seat opposite of the designer, Sakura smiled back appreciating the calmness that came from their 'dates'.

"So, what's wrong? You sounded really stressed over the phone," Sakura asked, lifting a hand to get the waiters attention.

"Just that, really. Stress. Argh! Everything just isn't going right, I mean the materials are going to be a day late, and I haven't even started on three of my main pieces! At the moment it's all about getting through one thing and then moving on as quickly as possible onto the next."

Nodding, Sakura smiled knowingly, noticing Tomoyo rubbing the side of her forhead in circles. "Yeah, it always seems to be like that at this time of the year. I know Eriol is rushed off his feet, and he's only a Managing Director, not a designer. I've been fitted and then re-fitted so many times over the past two days that I've lost count."

"Tell me about it," Tomoyo laughed, her usual amusement returning as she relaxed back into the plastic chair. The two shared a temporary silence as Sakura's order came, and they became comfortable with each other. "So, what have you been up to besides measuring for your company's designers?"

"Well, mainly I've been thinking. I mean with what we have right now, and with everything thats happened between Syaoran and I, I been thinking on how to come to terms with it all. I feel like I've been running away since I left him, and yet I've never felt more free in my life! I just want him to feel that way too, and for us to possibly be friends again," the green eyed woman said. She had felt horrid after the fight, and she was unsettled with her current relationship with Tomoyo because of both their connections with the CEO.

"You know what?" Smiling in an almost smirking way, Tomoyo viewed the woman across from her with a feeling of familarality. Sakura was exactly like Syaoran in so many ways, and yet the two were so completely different. "That's just what Syaoran said to me and Meiling the other day. He feels really bad for arguing too, and he wants you both to try to be friends again. He knows that you can't just brush everything off like it's nothing, but he wants to try."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Gods,I hope so! He's a wonderful person, well, when that temper of his doesn't get the better of him anyway," Sakura smiled, her memory bright with moments of sunshine, picnics and a romantic kiss in the rain.

"Hahahah! Tell me about it! But he _has_ reigned it in a little, or I think he has anyway. His heart is always in the right place at least, and it's still the funniest thing to see when his temper overflows!" Tomoyo laughed lightly as she recalled the one time she had observed Syaoran screaming into that huge cushion of his with Meiling snickering in her ear.

"I never thought that Syaoran losing his temper was a good thing, Tomoyo. In fact it's pretty scary when you think about it," Sakura looked warily over at her date, her smile gone and her guard up.

"What do you mean? Have you never seen him scream into that large cushion in his office?"

"'Scream into a large cushion'? What are you _talking_ about?" Confusion written all over her face, Tomoyo realised that Sakura had never witnessed the CEO's most embrassing trait.

"Well," she smirked, her day suddenly brightening up.

* * *

Sighing for what felt like the thousandth time that hour, Syaoran realised just how much work Meiling actually did for the company as he was left with her work when she was away from the office and assisting Yue. Signing the next document after correcting a sixth spelling mistake (really, they were professionals! The least his employees could do was to click on the spellcheck button before printing off and getting it to his desk. He was their _boss_ for crying out loud! He was the one person they were supposed to fear), the brunette made a mental note to either get the girl a new pair of shoes or cut back on the jokes about how little she did around the office.

He'd probably go with the shoes.

***RING RING RING RING***

"Yes?"

"_Hello, is this Gypsy?_"

Shooting forward in his seat, he glanced at his closed office door, and then at his desk phone before returning to his mobile. "Yes. Who is this?" He spoke sternly, hoping not to get recognised or give up any information than required.

"_Hi, this is the Cirque du Crépuscule. I'm just confirming your participation in the preliminary stages of the dance competition in next week._"

"Ah," now he understood the call. He would have to have a word with Eriol on how the man kept getting information about him, and just who he was giving it to. "Yes, I will be at the first preliminary of the competition next week."

"_Excellent! The first session begins at 14:00 and finishes at 18:00 at the Cirque du Crépscule Studio. If you pass then you will be given a packet containing information on the next stage of the prelimenaries before performing in front of the public._"

"Alright. 14:00 at the Studio, thank you."

"_And thank _you_. Good luck!_"

***BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP***

Pressing the 'end call' button, Syaoran replaced his phone onto his desk, biting the inside of his cheek as he began to plan out the amount of time he would need to practice, along side the most appropiate clothes he would need to wear, and he would have to put aside time to kill and then re-kill Eriol for entering him in the first place, while still trying to have a relationship or whatever it is that they are all at the same time.

His life had been a lot less complicated before he had laid eyes on that cheshire cat smile and those blue-grey eyes.

* * *

His dance studio had been re-decorated as Eriol put the final touches on his new furniture. The room had been fitted with a number of soft bean bags that someone could fall into, and a few small tables with lit candles. The table with the radio was still present, and a CD of romantic songs was playing sofly in the background.

He had arranged for a romantic night with Syaoran just before he had left the younger mans apartment that morning. Currently, Syaoran was sat on one of the beanbag chairs with a glass of wine in one hand and a relieved smile settling onto his face as he relaxed into the atmosphere.

"All done," the englishman stated.

"Hmmm."

"Syaoran?"

"Don't. Before I came here I was planning on killing you. Now, I just want to sit back and relax," Syaoran sighed happily.

Smiling back lightly, Eriol moved to kneel in front of the brunette and took his empty hand in his much paler one. Pulling lightly on that hand, Eriol tugged Syaoran to his feet, and wrapped his other hand around the brunette's waist.

"Dance with me."

Smiling at each other, the two slow-danced - with Syaoran still holding his glass of wine - for the duration of a song, and then Eriol chuckled lightly creating a lighter mood. Breaking away for a moment, Syaoran put down the glass before wrapping his arms around the bluenettes neck.

"I'm supposed to be practicing right now, you know," he uttered, resting his head on the Eriol's shoulder.

"I know, but sometimes this is the only thing someone needs. Besides, we're both enjoying ourselves, and you have plenty more hours to practice before the preliminaries -which you're going to walk by the way - and I don't see a reason for you not taking an hour or two-"

"Or three, or four."

"-_or_ four, to just relax," Eriol finished. Leaning down slightly, the bluenette kissed Syaoran lightly tightening his grip on the others waist and pulling them close together. Deepening the kiss, Syaoran licked Eriol's bottom lip asking for entry which was instantly granted. Smiling into the kiss, Eriol slowly began to move them both towards the beanbags, his smile widening when he heard the intake of breath when they moved from being vertical to horizontal.

"Hentai."

"Maamaa, of course."

Laughing quietly, Syaoran re-adjusted their postions so that Eriol was lying flush against him, his legs wrapping around the bluenettes, and one hand sliding into dark tresses while his other hand moved to the small of the other mans back, under his shirt. Leaning up, Syaoran took control of the next kiss

***RING RING RING RING***

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," the brunette growled. Yanking out his mobile, Syaoran answered with a sharp, "What?"

"_Hey! Don't bite my head off! _You're_ the one who told me to call you when the called back with their answer, and they just have._"

"Sorry, Meiling. And thank you for waiting around for the call." Leaning his head into the beanbag, Syaoran inwardly sighed. He had been enjoying that, and he'd wanted it to go further. "What did they say?" At this point, Eriol took advantage and he began to kiss along the length of Syaoran's neck, not even bothering to hide his smirk.

"_Well, they first wanted to thank you for your kind and generous offer, but since _our_ policies don't abide in any way or form to their's, they _thoughtfully_ declined._"

Instantly pushing the bluenette off of him, Syaoran's eyebrows went up and he sounded almost incredulous as he completely joined the conversation. "They _thoughtfully declined_? How does someone do that? That isn't even possble."

"_I told them about the cons of the offer, and then I led them through the plans that we have for them, and I even told them about the editions and funding that we would give them and that we would keep their company a family one, but they just bluntly refused!_"

"And then you politely told them that you would instantly get in touch with me and that I would speak to them personally?" He asked hopefully, fully aware that they shared the same temper and knowing what damage her silver tongue could do.

"_Then I told them that you would speak to them tomorrow._"

"And what did you say _before_ that?"

"_...I told them that they were lucky to even be considered for this and that they should just take the offer. They're going into bankruptcy anyway._"

"Meiling!"

"_What? They are!_"

"That doesn't matter! We're a _good_ company, Mei, and we don't bully smaller companies. We _help_ them," he said sternly. Standing he picked up his previously discarded jacket and got ready to leave. "I'll be there in half an hour - and don't think that you get to go home! You're going to help me sort this out, and you're going to apologise _sincerely_ before helping me get them to agree to let us help them out."

"And what about me?" Eriol asked feeling abandoned. He knew that their night wasn't going to go any further, but that didn't stop him from feeling a little sad that Syaoran was choosing work over him.

"Sorry.. Hold on a minute, Mei," he knelt and kissed Eriol soundly on the mouth before rushing out of the room, and the building. "Yeah, no, don't worry about it."

"Wow. I just can't catch a break."

* * *

Rubbing circles into his forhead, Yue inwardly sighed as he waited for a very _late_ Li Meiling. She was supposed to have turned up over half an hour ago, and the only reason he had stayed was because she had yet to actually miss an appointment. Even one that he was almost sure she was't going to turn up to.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late! Don't ask, it's too long a story, so lets just get on with this," the red eyed woman made a small mad dash down the street stopping just before the long, silver haired man. Her hair was untidyly tied back in a long pony-tail and her clothes were slightly askew in comparison to how smartly she was usually dressed.

"Are you wearing the same clothes as you were wearing yeasterday?" Yue asked, checking her over with a critical eye.

"Yep! Me and Syaoran were at the office all night trying to sort out a deal with a previously rival company. And of course, since it's not the first time he's done that, he had a spare change of clothes and a spare toiltry kit, whereas I'm stuck with _this_," she said, waving a hand at herself.

"Are you sure we can do this now? I'm sure we could rescedule if you need to," he commented, non-tactically indicating her current state of dress and general appearance.

"Nonsense! I'm fine as I am and we're already half an hour late! Besides, you might not want the place, just like you didn't want any of the places we've check out thus far," she smiled back at him, not unkindly, but not exactly kindly either. Despite her upheavelled apperance she still looked very beautiful and her messy pony-tail gave her an artistic edge that complimented her open jacket and red strappy shirt.

Following her into the building and to the reception area, he observed that Meiling was actually pretty unique. She was fierce, strong willed and uncaring to the world. Yet she held a softer, more intelligent side - at least according to her cousin - that made her overprotective and stubbon, which made Yue internally groan. He hated woman like that. He could understand a woman with leadership qualities and a will to survive. But women who took feminism that one step too far, or women who were overly boisterous and unlady-like were just a little more than he wanted.

* * *

"Is this a bad time?"

Looking up from his new bach of paperwork, Syaoran was only slightly surprised to see his ex-fiance at his office door. He _was_ surprised to see her looking twitchy and afraid to enter. To him, she was as young and beautiful as she had always been. She was dressed in a simple yellow shirt and flared jeans and her old bag slung over one shoulder.

"No, come on in," he said, gaining her full attention. She quickly shut the door behind her, and sat in the opposite chair that she had sat in the last time she had been in this office. Syaoran smiled, looking back down at his work to hide it. "Do you need something, or is this just so we can both tell Tomoyo that we met up with each other peacefully?"

"No. No, I _do_ need something. Actually, I need to be on good terms with you," she said. She folded her hands over her lap, watching as she twiddled her thumbs and straightened out imaginary creases in her shirt. She was well aware that she wasn't looking her best right now, what with her wearing the same clothes she had worn the day before when she had gone home with Tomoyo. It was when she woke up this morning that she realised that Syaoran was a huge part of the amethyst eyed girls life. He was on her bedside table with Meiling and Tomoyo's mother, Sonomi.

"'On good terms with me'?"

"Yeah. For Tomoyo. I think that, for her, we should try to be... well, not friends, but..."

"Acquaintances."

"Yeah."

"Alright then, lets be aquaintances," he said, smiling at her. It would be hard, but she was back in his life and he wasn't about to make the same mistakes he had before. His life was complicated enough as it was. "Is that the only thing?"

"Can I have my best friend back?" She spoke in an almost hopeful manner, yet knowing that they could never go back to how they used to be. They might get close to it someday, but that day was so far off in the future, it was too difficult to determine.

"Tomoyo is your best friend. Eriol is - or should - be a close friend, and after a while, Meiling will be a good friend. But you and I... We can't be what we were, and we have too much history to try again. Lets just work on being good aquaintances, and move on from there," he smiled sadly at her, he was trying not to let the pain he still felt for her show, and he knew that he no longer had the right to feel the way he did just then, but it was also a good sign that he was moving on completely, if just because it didn't hurt as much as the day they had yelled at each other.

"Well, can I at least get my girlfriend back?" She practically demanded, recieving the laugh she had wanted. It was one of the things that had made them work. Only two people in the world had been able to make him laugh before they got engaged, and she was one of them. "I mean, she makes clothes for you, and most of our conversations are about you. And it kinda sucks."

"Sure. Sorry," he laughed, lighting up when she began to laugh too.

* * *

It was late, and Syaoran hadn't slept in over 36 hours, and yet here he was, back at the club, dancing for both experience and to see Eriol lose his composure just the smallest bit. Swinging his lithe form tightly around the pole, the brunette dipped low, spreading his legs towards the floor as his black and red lace one-piece rippled lightly with his movements. The lace barely covered his shoulders and moved down his chest and stomach, strengthing in colour as it reach his groin and flaring only the slightest bit over the curve between his hips and thighs. One arm raised, he rose onto one foot, slowly turning himself in a circle with one hand firmly clapsed onto the pole.

Leaning backwards so that one leg was stretched horizontal with his upperbody, Gypsy gently moved his weight onto his arms and let his legs point straight up at the ceiling before he curled his body around and threw his head back. Each time he opened his eyes, amber would catch grey-blue and Gypsy would make the tinist movement that made every person watching jerk slightly in arousal.

Twenty minutes later and Gypsy was seated in a taxi with Eriol wrapped around him, their lips met in a clash of passion and obvious arousal, hands sliding under clothing, into hair and covering as much skin as was decent.

"Ehem.. Your first stop, sir," the cabbie interrupted, coughing lightly in embarrassment.

"Ah, yes. Thank you." Composing himself, Eriol got out, opened the door for Syaoran where they shared one final kiss of the night. "Next time."

"Next time," Syaoran agreed, nodding lightly. "Goodnight, Eriol."

"Goodnight, Syaoran."

* * *

**Brooding Darkness:** I think the Sakura-bashing is almost at an end, but the drama will not yet cease! Thank you for reading! All reviews are highly appreciated. Thank you once again!


	12. Part 10

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

**NOTE:** I am so sorry that this took so long to get up! Hell has decided to freeze on me lately, but I've got the whole thing pretty much done, so the updates should be much faster. Thank you for staying with it!

**Review Replies:**

**mochiusagi:** Thank you for the review! Believe me I've had to stay awake for over 43 hours before now, and it gets easier around the 36th. Thank you once again!

**SanguisRubeus:** Here's the update! Thank you!

**Minako-Akemi:** Thank you so much! I'm sorry if it seems a little all-over-the-place, but that's just setting up the different layers in the story. Now that they're established it should become much clearer. Thank you once again!

**JBubbles:** Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it, and I love the dancing too! It just fits them ^_^

**Snoopygirl11:** Thank you! I hope you end up enjoying these two, and I'm glad that you like how it all plays out. Thank you!

**XxLunermoonxX:** I'm really sorry for the length between updates! But they will be coming sooner! Thank you so much for reviewing!

**Azh Hikari:** No, this hasn't been abandoned it's just taking a _lot_ of time to get it written and up. Thank you for reviewing!

**Funni neko:** Thank you for all of your reviews! They made me very happy! I just adore this pairing too! Thank you again!

**Neo Rulez:** I'm glad that you like it! Thank you!

**Eru no Tsubasa:** Thank you! I've always prided myself on being able to actually describe a situation in detail, because sometimes I read things and I don't really get the feeling of the whole setting, you know? Thank you so much once again!

**A big Thank you to all of my reviewers for being so faithful once again!**

**NOTE2:** This chapter is going to contain a lot of Sakura and Eriol business, but there should be a fair amount of actual story in here, so I hope you enjoy and don't get too annoyed at the poor girl. I _do_ like her, but she can get on my nerves sometimes and it might show here and there during this fic. Thank you again!

"Blah blah blah" is speech  
"_Blah blah blah_" is the person talking on the other end of the phone

####### is a time cut, but with the same people at the same place

**Gypsy Dance  
**by Brooding Darkness

**Part 10**

Giggling to herself, Sakura twirled enchanted by the sparkles sprayed out on the hem of her dress. Eriol had dressed her today, having come over to her apartment especially to chat with her – and of course, dress her properly – about where the four of them were with each other. The talk had gone rather well, and now she was stood outside the fanciest restaurant in town in a silver one shouldered dress which had hand-sewn fake diamonds sprayed beautifully along the hem and over the shoulder. Giggling again, she kept an eye out for her girlfriend.

"Hey!"

Grinning in absolute delight, Sakura took in the sight of an angel. Tomoyo had her hair down with little gold clips positioned carefully throughout her long dark locks and she was dressed to kill. The long green dress with a thin gold layer underlying the corset-type top and the frill of the sleeves. Smiling back, the purplenette squealed when she stepped next to Sakura.

"Wow! You look great! Who designed that?" Tomoyo asked admiring the whole look, as well as her girlfriend's body shape and size.

"One of Eriol's boys. I'm not sure which, but I love what _you're_ wearing! Did you make that yourself?" The green eyed model asked in reply.

"Yes," she blushed lightly. It was her job to design and she knew she was good at it – how else was she to survive in the fashion industry if she wasn't? – but she had never thought that she would particularly suit any of the designs herself.

"Come on, I think our table will be ready about now," Sakura motioned clasping the other woman's hand in her own. A light blush fluttered over both of their faces at the action, but neither commented as they made their way to the maître d. "Table for two at nine o'clock, under the reservation of Karuto Taihosha¹."

"Oh! Yes, of course! Right this way ladies, your table is all ready for you," the woman beamed at them. It was obvious as the two walked to their table at the back of the room that most people – of not everyone – were staring at them both. Not that anyone could blame them. "Here you are! Your waiter will be with you momentarily."

"Thank you!"

"Thank you very much."

Leaving them too it, the maître d practically waltzed back to her stand at the front of the restaurant. Smiling at each other, there was a slight awkward silence as neither really knew what to say. They both enjoyed each other's company, but tonight felt different, and Sakura was really hoping that they would both continue to keep each other company once they left.

"So, how are things at work?" Tomoyo ventured tentatively.

Leaning in like the true gossip she was, Sakura smirked as the latest thing with Eriol pooped into the forefront of her mind.

"Well..."

Laughing and giggling, the two continued to chat and gossip throughout their meal and well into the next hour without either of them realising that they were being watched. Grabbing the bill first, Sakura smiled over at her companion with a warning glance to let _her_ pay for once, before they both stood to leave.

The green eyed model was a little apprehensive about her next move, but Eriol had given her the push she had needed in their little pep talk earlier on.

"So, I was thinking... maybe you'd like to come back to my place for a quite drink?" Sakura asked as they stepped out into the cool night air. It was late and the weather had been mostly strange with its present warm temperature, but the nights were still cool enough to cause goose-bumps to form on their arms which gave Sakura an excuse for her obvious nervousness.

"Just so long as it's alcoholic. After today I desperately need it. Not that tonight wasn't perfect!" The amethyst eyed woman grinned, trying to get her point across.

"Don't worry about it! I hope red wine's fine, it's all I have at the moment," she returned grinning back.

"Perfect!"

Giggling, it never even crossed their minds when faint clicks in the background were heard as Sakura leaned over and gently kissed Tomoyo. They also never registered the clicks when they held hands once more and caught a cab back to Sakura's place.

* * *

Anger was the only emotion that could describe just how Eriol felt when he woke up that morning. Usually, he would wake up; have his usual breakfast of cereal and tea followed by a quick trip down to the local newsagents to collect his usual papers and magazines before making his way to work.

But this morning he had awoken to a text from a local _journalist_ of all people about one of his models. So, he had immediately check the news via internet and switched on the local news channel. The news broadcaster wittered on about world news and business, but it was the online papers that had stirred his anger.

Sakura had just been outed.

Getting his things together he texted Sakura to immediately get into the office before making his way there himself. Once in the building the 'team' was summoned to the main conference room.

"I am going to _kill_ them," he muttered to himself. It had to have been an insider for there to be a tip off at least. And the thought that one of them had turned against one of their own was just disgusting and disgraceful. It was something which he had previously thought his 'team' was unable to do.

***RING RING RING RING***

"Yes?"

"_Hello? This is Jacob Masters_²_ calling from _**The Times**³_, I was wondering if you would answer a few questions?"_

"No, I will not be answering any questions right now, but you can ask away all you want at the conference this afternoon. Thank you." Slamming the receiver of the phone down, Eriol gritted his teeth as his mind whirled. A conference was the only option they had right now, and it was best that they all get themselves prepped for it.

"Eriol?"

Tears streaked down her face, but it was obvious that she was still keeping herself held together since she was there, dressed and her pretty green eyes still held their fierce determination. She was ready to fight if need be.

"I am so sorry, Sakura," the bluenette rushed over to hold the girl close. "This should never have happened, and I don't know how it did. But we'll fix it, alright? _I'll_ fix it."

"I know. But, it's _my_ fault anyway."

"Don't be ridiculous! How could this be your fault?"

"I pushed a little. I wanted to kiss her, so I did," she sniffed wiping her eyes with the back to her hand.

"Well, that's just silly. It's _my_ job to protect you and you shouldn't have to worry about anything." Pulling a tissue from his jacket pocket, Eriol handed it to her wiping a stray strand of auburn hair. "I'm assuming the date went _really_ well then?" He smirked pervertedly.

Rolling her eyes with a laugh she nodded. "Oh, yeah. It was amazing."

"Good. Now, let's get this out of the way."

It was a good two hours before the interview, and another hour to set it up, but when everything was set, Eriol was sure that they were all ready.

"At least it wasn't one of our own," Rika Sasaki, a media researcher, sighed.

"That's true. I just can't believe that a journalist _just happens_ to be in the same restaurant at that time. I mean, what are the chances?" Chiharu Mihara shook her head wanting to strangle someone at the shear absurdity of the notion.

"Thanks guys. I'm pretty relieved too. And I'm glad that this doesn't weird either of you two out," Sakura smiled, clasping her hands in front of her.

"Hey, no problem! And you could never weird us out!"

"Yeah! I mean, we've been friends since we all started working here, we kinda already knew you were weird," Rika giggled.

"Hey! Don't be mean!"

"I wasn't! I was just saying that weird things tend to happen around Sakura. Not that I can talk. I mean this wedding just doesn't seem to be happening," the pig-tailed girl sighed. She had been engaged since she was twelve and now that she was old enough the two had started to plan their wedding, but they were both still far from it.

"I'm sure it'll all work out, Rika. Don't give up!" Grinning at each other, the continued to make sure that all the papers were in order.

###########################################################

"Are you ready?" Eriol asked walking up to the small group of women.

"Yep! I just hope that none of this affects Tomoyo," Sakura sighed.

"It shouldn't. She won't even be mentioned at this point," he replied sorting through a few of his own notes. He was to sit beside the model and help answer and of the more personal questions or just deflect answers that were far _too_ personal. "You just focus on what you want people to know, and let me deal with the rest, okay?"

Nodding in reply, she took a deep breath before walking into the next room where all the journalists had been gathered. Flashes and clicks of cameras could be heard over the mutter of the people gathered. Questions were already being shouted out, but all were ignored.

Sitting down, Eriol began the conference.

"Alright, I would like to start this with a few rules. First off, _we_ will pick out who will ask a question and then either Sakura or I will answer before we move onto the next person. Anyone shouting out questions will be ignored, and I would also like to remind you that this is focused on Miss Kinomoto here, and nothing else to do with the company itself. Secondly, Miss Kinomoto will like to give a brief statement before we answer _any_ questions. Sakura?"

Turning to the girl, she nodded before taking a deep breath.

"First, I would like to thank you all for getting here in such short notice, and second I'm glad to see that so many are interested in me as that means that my life is somewhat interesting," smiling at the few laughs given off by the room, she continued: "Okay, well, I guess I should start by saying that despite how I've tried to keep my private life just that: private, it seems that people want to know. So, I am in fact bisexual and I am very proud to be. I've pretty much always been this way and I've never felt like there was anything wrong with it. My family _are_ aware of this fact and I have _never_ kept it a secret. So, questions?"

"Umm... Stacy?" Eriol pointed to a woman on his left in a fitted pin-striped suit.

"Have you considered that your sexuality might be sending the wrong message to young girls who wish to enter the same industry, or even those who admire you for what you do?"

"If you mean 'do I think that being bisexual or being gay in any way or form is the only way to get into the fashion industry', then no. It shouldn't matter what sexuality you are regardless of the joy you have. There is nothing wrong with being gay, and I actually don't think that it is an issue at all. I honestly don't understand the fuss over it and I think that it sends the right message to those who admire _me_ because it can show them that it doesn't matter who or what they are so long as they remain true to themselves. I'm human, and yes, I like women just as much as I like men. But that shouldn't matter at all because my sexuality doesn't define everything about who I am. It's just a _part_ of who I am."

Smiling at Sakura's answer, Eriol felt like he had never been more proud of her. The conference continued on for a while before some of the reporters just got plain snarky.

"Don't you feel ashamed? You've kept what you are from your employers and the people around you. They must feel betrayed on some level."

"I can assure that we don't," Eriol butted in. "In fact we're actually delighted to have Sakura with us, and we're all just happy that she is so she has nothing to be ashamed of. And I don't like your attitude on that question Steven."

Glaring at Eriol, the reporter snarled quietly before a gleam entered his eye. "I suppose this all make you feel more comfortable, right? I mean, you're bisexual yourself." At this the entire room erupted.

"No, no I'm not." The bluenette answered seriously. "But I _am_ gay and yes, the entire world is well aware of this – I mean I work in _fashion_. Not to be too stereotypical about it, but where else can a guy like me get off on fabric?" he chuckled. His own sexuality had been opened when he had first entered into the world of business so he had nothing to hide at all – well, except a sexy brunette, but that wasn't _his_ choice.

"Is that why you were in a relationship with your old boss?" Steven sneered.

"My old boss was a woman, Steven. And if you're going to point fingers at political figures perhaps I can direct you to your wife's bosses son," Eriol quipped back before he realised just what he had said.

"Are you saying that the mayor's son is gay?"

Gaping at him with a hand to her forehead, Sakura wondered just when this conference had tipped itself over.

* * *

The building was actually pretty fancy considering it was just a renovated warehouse. The studio was just a long hall with a mirrored wall and wooden floors with tables and chairs to one side for the judges to watch the performers from. A large sign with the words _Cirque du Crépscule_ written across it hung from the door leading into the studio. It was now 13:55 and Syaoran was nervous about the whole deal.

His day hadn't started out well, and his mind was on other things, but his life-long dream to just dance was right in front of him, and he couldn't miss it. Taking a deep breath, Syaoran opened the door to the studio pushing Sakura's conference and the meeting with the still-not-bought-company from this morning to the back of his mind. He needed to focus on the _here_ and _now_.

"Hello," a bored sounding man directed at him once the door had closed behind him. "You are…?"

"Hi, I'm Gypsy."

"Ah! Yes, please take a number from the first table and stand over by the far wall with the others. It shouldn't take too long for everyone to finish setting up," the bored man motioned.

"Thank you." Doing as he was told, Syaoran reflected that there wasn't really anything to finish as the room itself was bare except for the tables and chairs, and the other contestants who were already stood at the far side of the room were either stretching, muttering anxiously or eyeing each other up. So what they could possibly be finishing setting up was beyond him.

Taking a number from the small box – the number thirteen he noticed with amusement – he walked to the far side of the room, placing his bag and jacket down before starting on some small stretches.

It was another ten minutes before the bored man approached the gathered contestants.

"Okay, so first off, we're going to call out your number and you'll perform a simple routine to the style of music of your choice before performing together in a routine provided by _us_. Don't worry we're going to take you through it a few times first and then we'll mark you on the final performance. Okay, so, let's start with number 1."

A youngish couple dressed in bright frilly ballroom clothing (think _Strictly Come Dancing_) stepped forward and handed over a disc with their music for their individual routine to the bored sounding guy – who Syaoran felt that he should really learn the guy's name if he got through to the next round. The two danced a type of new-age salsa which consisted of a lot of twirls, dips and trying not to step onto each other's feet. Once the music finished and the two had bowed to the rest of the room – which was a little arrogant, the CEO thought.

"Great. Next: number 2."

This process continued on which each contestant handing over their various discs and tapes before performing their routines, the five 'judges' which consisted largely of men, watched each routine with mild expressions and jotting various notes down onto pads without actually uttering a word to anyone, including each other.

"Number 13."

Taking a deep breath, Syaoran stepped forward as the man before him sat back against the wall, sweat dripping down his forehead. The brunette licked his lips as he handed over his own disc and got into position in the centre of the room, facing the mirrored wall. Closing his eyes, he waited for the second bar of the music to settle into his bones before _moving_.

Syaoran was Gypsy, and Gypsy had never given a bad performance and he sure as Hell wasn't giving a bad performance now. Flowing and letting all of his pent up emotions over the past few years concerning his dream to dance out, Gypsy let the almost ethereal music play out enjoying the feel of the vibrations that made their way through his body.

Today, Gypsy reigned.

* * *

Meiling flicked easily through the paperwork that sat on her dearest cousin's desk as she sighed over the lack of a boyfriend for her to fret over. Ever since her last break up, which was over eight months ago, she had been irritatingly single and this was with _Syaoran_ in a relationship. How was it that out of her group of friends _she_ was _still_ single?

Sighing once more, Meiling sorted through the various files and documents to see if there was anything that didn't actually need to be on his desk that she should be dealing with instead. Really, Syaoran liked to go through all of the paperwork himself, but most of this was too low to actually be on his desk, yet the brunette insisted on it.

***RING RING***

"Hello?"

"_Hi! This is Cleon Richardson from the Marketing Department. I'm supposed to be speaking to Syaoran Li regarding the new budget for the new ads we need to run next month?_"

"Oh! Yeah! No, he's not in the office right now, but you can discuss the new budget with me right now so that I can give it as a synopsis to Syaoran when he gets back in," she replied kicking off her heels so that she could settle her feet better onto her cousin's desk.

"_Oh, okay. Well...erm...can I ask who I'm speaking with?_" The nervous voice asked.

"Meiling Li. I'm Syaoran Li's secretary and his personal assistant, though sometimes it feels like I'm his mother," she laughed brushing her dark locks over her shoulder.

"_Yeah? You must be pretty important then. Maybe I should rethink asking you out then._"

"Oh, don't let my importance scare you! But you need to at least compliment me before asking," she giggled, happy that she might actually get a date, and just when she was hoping for one.

"_Well I would, but unfortunately your voice suggests that you're too heavenly to fall for any of the cheesy lines that I can provide._"

"Cute. Pity though, I like a guy who knows how to sweet talk."

"_In that case, you should be aware that I'll never be able to talk as sweetly as your voice, but I will certainly do whatever I can to get close._"

"Smooth."

"_Thank you. So, Friday at the Rose and Thorn?_"

"I'll be there at seven. Now, about that budget..."

* * *

Thumbing the envelope that he had been given on his passing the first round of the _Cirque du Cr__é__pscule_ dance competition, Syaoran picked up his cup of hot chocolate while staring aimlessly out of the cafe window. Syaoran had been coming to this cafe for as long as he could remember since he had moved to England and it was one of his favourite places to be when not at home.

It was also a good place to speak to one of his inside sources.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late," the tall dark haired man grinned as he took the seat opposite the CEO. "I came across this little old woman to just couldn't seem to cross the road, so I stopped to help. But then she was all like, 'Don't touch me!' do I decided to just leave her there."

"I'm sure you did. Besides you're not _that_ late," the brunette grinned back. He was well used to Yamazaki Takashi's insane tales that had gotten smaller and smaller over the years, but each one could still cause him to smile. "So, how have you been lately?"

"Pretty good, all things considered. Chiharu's been driving me nuts with the whole wedding plans, though. You?"

"Good, actually. I've met this guy," Syaoran said before sipping at his hot chocolate again.

"Really? That's great. It's about time you got out and started seeing people again," Yamasaki grinned. He nodded to the waitress signalling for her to come over. "So, what's he like?"

"He's... different."

"Not your usual type then?"

"Yeah," Syaoran laughed. "Sorry, Yamazaki, but I actually asked to meet you for something else. Not that I don't want to hear everything about your wedding preparations and your attempted escape, but something's come up that I want your help with."

"Go for it, and don't worry, you'll hear _all_ about my failed attempts later."

"Thanks 'Zaki. Now, it's about Sakura and the conference this morning."

"Did you watch it?"

"No. But I got all the details."

"None of this should have happened. None of it."

"Yeah. Was this why you two didn't... you know."

"No, it wasn't," the brunette frowned. "But no one should be outed like that. Sakura didn't... doesn't deserve this. No one does."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Yamazaki asked smiling as the waitress handed him a tall glass of water.

"An interview. Just you, no other journalist or paper will get it. You ask whatever questions you want provided that you print her _full_ answer. Interested?"

"Definitely. I do have one question for you though."

"Sure."

"How's the sex?"

* * *

Coughing harshly, Syaoran's face burned bright red as he took a large gulp of his drink to try to clear his throat while Yamazaki just sat cackling evilly.

The next morning was bright, airy and looked like a perfect day. Naturally, every employee at the _Lady Yelan_ had come complete with winter coats and umbrella's since the usual English weather was as unpredictable as it had always been – it was sure to rain at some point that day despite the good weather.

"Meiling! Get me the blue file!" Syaoran yelled through the open door. "And stop daydreaming about your date. You haven't even had it yet."

"I am _not_ daydreaming, and you can't blame me even if I was. I haven't had a date with anyone in a long time. Even _you_ have a boyfriend! I want that!" The red eyed woman pouted, handing him the blue file.

"Thanks for that," he replied referring to Eriol. "I know that you want to go out, so go out. Just not on company time. If the date works out, go out again. If not... find someone else."

"You know, it's not just about being in a relationship. I wanna get laid too. I mean, eight months! I'm in a dry spell!"

"Oh, Gods. Meiling, please don't tell me things like that. You're like a sister to me, and all I want to do when you say things like that is to kill the guy trying to get up your skirt."

"Awww," Meiling cooed. "Don't even think about getting in-between me and a good lay," she smirked smacking him up the head lightly.

"Eww."

"Whatever."

"This isn't the right file," Syaoran said handing it back.

"You asked for the blue file."

"Yes."

"_That_ is the blue file."

"It's the _wrong_ blue file."

"Well, maybe you should be more specific about which blue file you want."

"Just go get it."

"Fine. So, have you spoken to him yet?" She said as she left the room momentarily.

"No. Every time I pick up the phone to call him, I keep getting angry. I can't believe he said that! They're going to sue, and he'll be lucky if Sakura doesn't go down with him." Brushing his hands through his hair, Syaoran sighed heavily.

"How is she? And Tomoyo for that matter." Coming back into the room, Meiling placed six blue files onto Syaoran's desk, beginning to flick through each one as she talked.

"Tomoyo's got a constant headache, but the picture doesn't show her so she's out of the red. As for Ying-Fa... Well when I called her she was almost crying, but she held herself together like the tough girl she is. I've sorted something out so that she can deal with the issue on her terms and in her own way. You should call her, she'll like that." Picking up one of the files, Syaoran wondered just why so many of them were blue. It wasn't like they didn't have different coloured files.

"Yeah, but all we'll end up talking about is shoes. It's all we talk about really."

"Shoes? Really?"

"Yep."

"That's a metaphor, right?" He asked quirking an eyebrow.

"Nope."

"Shoes. Okay, currently forgetting that," picking up a second file, Syaoran shook his head at her. "Just call her. And Tomoyo while you're at it."

"Okay. Ah! Here it is!" Grinning in triumph, Meiling collected the other files in one hand while holding out the correct file in her other hand for Syaoran to take. Gripping it, Syaoran just shook his head again. He was obviously gay for a reason. Women were just _not_ his forte. "Are you really going to make me work on this with you?"

"Yes I am. You made this mess, so you'll help me clean it up."

"I did _not_ make a mess. They didn't want to work with us and I made it clear-"

"That you didn't want to work with _them_. We _don't_ bully people, Meiling. _Ever_."

"I know, I know. That guy just has a way of raising my hackles."

Smiling gently at her, he shared a secret smile like he used to when they were young children. "Me too."

* * *

Sliding into the comfy red chair of his business partner's office, Eriol rubbed at the temples on his forehead as he tried to ease the ache which was slowly coming over him.

"What the _Hell_ possessed you?" Mizuki Kaho stormed as she sat on the same side of her desk and opposite him.

"I just couldn't take them aiming that low at her. And then _me_. They tried to get to her through _me_," he argued back.

"And now the mayor's suing," the tall woman pointed out.

"He's suing _me_, Kaho. Not the company, not Sakura and not you. _Me_. I can live with that. Besides, I've got a good lawyer, and this will all be over and done with over a table in some office building out of earshot of the press."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Well, I hope you're right."

"I am."

Leaning over, Kaho placed her hand onto Eriol's knee. "If you need help..."

"No, thank you. But I accept the complement that comes with it," Eriol smiled sadly, lightly brushing the woman's hand off before it could slide any further up his knee.

"Are you sure? I can be very persuasive when I want to be."

"I'm sure you can, but I'm with someone right now."

"That matters?" She smiled coyly.

"Very much."

"Oh... well. Another time then."

"Of course."

* * *

The apartment was steadily becoming Eriol's favourite place to be. It was warm, cosy and the kitchen always seemed to have some amazing smells coming from it. Sitting on the comfy couch sipping at a glass of red wine, the bluenette wondered how long the peace was going to last. He had come over two hours after his work day had finished and Syaoran had let him in without any mention of the conference or any kind of ill-will towards him. In fact Syaoran had kissed him firmly the moment he had crossed the doors threshold.

"What were you thinking, Eriol?" Syaoran asked softly, placing a plate of biscuits onto the small coffee table. "You should have handled that way better than you had."

"I know, but he was attacking Sakura and it was and _is_ my duty to protect her," he answered putting the glass down onto the drink mat provided.

"You didn't have to go that far, and there were plenty of ways you could have taken that level of questioning. Besides, Steven was clearly coming after _you_ and not Sakura. If he brings _you_ down, then your company drops in value and ultimately brings the company down along with you." Settling down next to the glasses-clad man with his own glass of wine.

"I know that. And I can sort this out, so everything will be done and dusted by Monday."

"I hope so."

"Actually, I'm more worried about my business partner right now," Eriol admitted. He wasn't really happy about telling Syaoran about the conversation he had had earlier that day, but he didn't want to hide anything right now.

"Why?"

"She... uh... came onto me."

"And you rejected her?"

"Of course."

"That could get intense. And awkward."

"You have no idea," the bluenette sighed. Sighing again at the look Syaoran was giving him, Eriol elaborated. "We used to date. Before I realised that I preferred men."

"Ouch. Rejected twice. That must hurt," the brunette grimaced sipping from his glass again.

"Yeah, I guess. But it got me thinking."

"About what?"

"Us."

"Why?"

"Well... What are we, Syaoran? I mean we sneak around, but we don't hide. We're in a relationship, but we're not actually dating. I don't know _what_ we are, Syaoran, but I _do_ know that I want more," Eriol looked straight into Syaoran's bright amber eyes while he said all of this hoping to convey just what he really wanted.

"I'm not ready for that."

"I know. But I want to try anyway."

"And _I_ don't."

"Syaoran..."

"Don't." Turning away in anger, the brunette chewed on his lower lip. He didn't want this conversation, and he didn't want Eriol to push it.

"I just mean that what we have now isn't enough for me," Eriol pushed.

"Well it's already too much for me," Syaoran bit out, standing.

"So, what are we going to do?" Eriol asked, staying seated and trying to remain calm.

"I don't know."

Gulping, Eriol was dreading his next words, but it was the only thing he could think of right now. Maybe it would sort out all of their feelings and give them a better look at just where the both of them were with each other.

"How about we take a break? Just for a little while."

"A break? As in we don't have a relationship for a short amount of time and we leave each other to see other people?" Syaoran asked, hoping that he would be told that his interpretation was wrong.

"Yes."

So much for that thought, Syaoran mourned. "Have we even been seeing each other for that long?" he laughed bitterly.

"No, but we've been moving quite fast. Maybe this will give us the time we need."

"How long?"

"We'll see."

"Fine." Hugging his arms close to his chest, Syaoran moved into the kitchen. "You know where the door is."

Blinking slowly, Eriol drained the rest of his wine and picked up his coat to leave.

* * *

**Notes:**

¹ 'Karuto' is Japanese for 'card' and 'Taihosha' is Japanese for 'captor' so I put the words together to make this, just a little throw in there from the original series. I wonder how many of you got it.

² I just made this character and 'Steven' up so anyone by those names is just a coincidence. And yes, I despise homophobia. I mean, really, how can you have a phobia to homosexuality? It's just stupid.

³**The Times** is a British newspaper, and I just picked it at random since you can get it pretty much anywhere in the country.


	13. Part 11

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

**NOTE:** The only characters that belong to me are the OC's mentioned in the fic. Not that I actually care about owning them, but I thought I should just mention it. ^_^

**Review Replies:**

**mochiusagi:** Yeah, this fic seems to be really taking off now. I've had it planned out for some time, but when actually writing it I wasn't aware just _how_ dramatic it actually was until I read it through again. And now it seems to be getting even _more_ dramatic. Thank you so much for reviewing! I always appreciate your comments!

**JBubbles:** Yay! I'm back, thanks! I'm glad that you like the exploration. I know that a lot of fics that feature homosexual relationships in the media always seem to be taken too well, so I wanted to be more realistic without going over the top. It's going to be a bit more intense as the story progresses so if I go a bit over feel free to tell me and I'll tone it down. Thank you! I hope that I didn't put too much into this and that you were okay with re-reading the fic again (I know you said you enjoyed re-reading it, but I'm sure you were brought up to be polite ^_^) Thank you once again!

**snoopygirl11:** Yes, I'm here again! And no, I'm not about to abandon this fic, I like writing it too much although it has taken some time for me to actually get this posted I have gotten the next lot of chapters written. I'm glad that I managed to get the funny bits to be funny and that the characters have stayed relatively in-character as it can be hard to do when concerning these types of storylines. Thank you so much for staying with me and for reviewing!

**A big Thank you to all of my reviewers as they always make my day!**

**NOTE2:** These chapters will be going up quicker as I am actually ahead (for once). So expect quicker updates and I _do_ hope that you continue to enjoy them. This is a bit shorter than the last one, but it still contains quite a bit. At least, I hope it does. ^_^

"Blah blah blah" is speech  
"_Blah blah blah_" is the person talking on the other end of the phone  
####### is a time cut, but with the same people at the same place

**Gypsy Dance  
**by Brooding Darkness

**Part 11**

Tip-toeing around the small bedroom, Meiling tried to be as quiet as possible while she collected her previously discarded clothing. The previous night had been filled with wine, take-away and way too much flirting – so much so, she had ended up at Cleon's place despite telling herself that she never slept with _anyone_ on a first date. So, here she was, trying to dress as silently as possible so that she could sneak her way out and hopefully avoid and morning awkwardness.

"Meiling?"

Turing at the sound of a deep voice, the red eyed woman smiled humourlessly at the sleep-fuddled blonde who was now sitting up in bed.

"Hi, sorry, but I've got work. Syaoran and I still have a lot to do on this small business and we're both doing overtime, so... sorry."

"That's okay. I'll see you later tonight though, right?" Standing up now, Cleon came over to her brushing one hand against her upper right arm.

"I don't think so. I'm sorry, Cleon. You're a nice guy and all, but this type of thing never works out when the first date ends like it did last night," she explained trying to reason the situation out.

"That's not good enough. I pick you up tonight and we can have dinner and maybe I'll bring you back here again." Grabbing her arm now, the blonde spoke with a dark undertone which promised pain if she wasn't careful. Not that that had ever stopped her before, mind you.

"Well, tough it out, because I'm not interested and when I say 'no', it means **no**." Wrenching her arm away she took a step back away from him, staring him head on practically challenging him to act on his unspoken threat.

"Bint. You _will_ do what I tell you to do," Cleon snarled slapping her full on her left cheek. "And if you even try to leave me I'll find you and no amount of money or any of your _friends_ will help you."

"Get stuffed," Meiling hissed back.

Slapping her once more, Cleon's face darkened with fury. He wasn't usually so possessive, but when he wanted something he always got it, no matter who or what he had to destroy in the process.

* * *

Glaring at the phone, Syaoran wondered just why he had even bothered to get out of bed that morning. His whole life had been thrown up in the air and he was once again partially single with so much business piling up on his desk concerning the small company that he was trying to _help_ and who were refusing to just see the light of day on the fact that he could _save_ them and keep them going. On top of all of that he had the competition which he was starting to believe was a waste of time – he loved dancing, but he had other higher priorities.

"Damn that pervert!" he muttered to himself. It was all Eriol's fault. He had received an email that same morning giving him further details about the quarter-finals and where they would be held – apparently there was a much bigger warehouse somewhere which had been refurbished to a slightly better degree than the first one. The email had noted the other contestants that had passed the first round and who would be competing against him for a spot in the semi-finals. Syaoran as amused to notice that the weird salsa-come-dancing couple had gotten through along with two others which Syaoran had not actually paid much attention to when he had been there.

"Syaoran, Yamazaki's on line four," Meiling called through the open door from her desk.

"Thanks," the brunette called back. He was slightly worried about her as she had come in that morning bruised – explaining that she had fallen in the shower which was just plain ridiculous – and slightly subdued, which wasn't as subdued as one would think, but _he_ noticed.

Picking up the receiver, Syaoran sent a worried look at the door before speaking.

"Hey 'Zaki, thanks for this."

"_No problem, man. I've called Sakura and she's fine with everything so far, but I'd like you to speak to her to make sure that she's really okay with it all._"

"Okay, I'll do that, thanks. Do you mind if I tag along if I can make it? I want to support her as much as I can, but I don't want to get in the way if I can help it," he asked.

"_As long as she's happy to, I'm fine with it. And if you're there it might calm her down enough for her to answer properly. And we can talk off record too._" Yamazaki's voice was full of humour and he even laughed when he recalled their last conversation.

"What could you possibly want to talk off record about?" Syaoran asked, incredulous.

"**_You_**_, of course! Our talk last time was good, but you left out details!_"

"For a good reason, Yamazaki. Oh, and we're on a break, though why is still beyond my knowing," the brunette sighed.

"_A break? I thought you hadn't been seeing him for all that long? When did this happen?_"

"The day after we spoke. And yes, a break. I don't think we've been seeing each other for that long either, but he thinks that we took it too fast and I have to agree. I like him, but I'm not sure if I like him _that_ much."

"_Yeah? Well... Hang on...Sorry, Ran, but my boss is gonna kill me if I don't get this article finished and my desk buddy is crawling my eyes out with his glare, so we'll pick this up at the interview, yeah?_"

"Yeah, okay. You get back to work and try to hold down that job. You'll have little tall talers running around soon enough so you need to be in a position to provide for them," Syaoran teased. He could practically feel the blush Yamazaki had on the other end of the line when they said their goodbyes. He had been good friends with the man for quite some time now, and he always enjoyed the fact that they were comfortable enough to have nicknames for each other. 'Ran' was a name only 'Zaki' was allowed to call him by.

It was nice having male friends, Syaoran concluded to himself as he put the phone back down.

"Graham, the senior staffer of Brookindales is on line two, Syaoran," Meiling said, placing a yellow file on his desk.

"When did you switch from blue to yellow?"

"Today. _You_ were the one who kept saying that we had too many blue files."

"Okay, thanks. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine! Stop worrying! You have enough going on as is. And _I_ want to know what happened with Eriol later on, okay?" She grinned.

"At lunch, I promise," he grinned back.

* * *

The last few days had been a small kind of Hell for the green eyed model as the papers had done nothing but rant about her sexuality and were naming her, any of her associates that she may or may not have had past relations with – all of which were untrue – and they were even calling her family. She had managed to keep Tomoyo out of the news but Sakura felt like it was only a case of time before they went hounding after the poor woman. Sakura was just glad that she had made friends with Syaoran again. The man had yet to leave her alone, keeping her spirits up and making sure that she had all the support and love she felt that she didn't deserve after their past together.

Sinking further into her cream coloured chair she held her mug of herbal tea with both hands, putting her feet up so that she was well and truly cuddled and away from the world at large.

"You don't look like you're holding up well," Touya said from his place across from her. He had come around as soon as he could – what with living in a different city and trying to get through to her phone through all of the journalists and bad-mouthers.

"I'm fine, Touya. Syaoran gave me a new phone so only five people have the number – including you. He's been great about everything," she said sadly.

"He's a brat."

"Mou, Touya! Don't call him that! Especially after everything I put him through and everything he's doing for me now."

"I know, I know. But he's always been a brat and he'll always _be_ a brat. Not that that isn't a good thing in this case – and you better not tell him I said that!"

Giggling, Sakura sipped from her tea enjoying the company of her brother since it had been a while since the two of them had gotten together, what with the wedding and her modelling job which took her all over the world.

"I won't, but you better be nice to him when he comes. He's helping me with an interview for a newspaper so that everything gets clear up, and he's even put one of his assistants – one of Meiling's too, I think – to sorting out my mail so that any hate-mail gets burned before it even gets to my managers office."

"Oh? Well... that's nice," he answered not quite knowing what to say in the light of this new information. He knew that Syaoran still cared for his monster of a little sister, but to go this far... "Are you sure he doesn't still love you?"

"He's gay."

"Oh... Wait, what?"

"He's gay," the green eyed woman repeated.

"Since when?!" Touya blinked back.

"According to Meiling... about a year after I left him. Anyway, he's no longer interested in women, so you don't have to try to scare him off every time you see him," Sakura smiled. Touya's and Syaoran's rivalry had been going on for years so it would be weird if they suddenly started acting civil to each other, but it would be nice if they could have at least one conversation that didn't involve them both getting rallied for a fight. "So, how are the wedding plans going so far?"

"Yukito is insistent that the flowers aren't quite right so he's getting them re-ordered, _again_. But we've managed to get all the suits fitted and paid for, so that's something," he sighed sounding exhausted.

"He's not got any problems with the food, then?"

"Yukito _never_ has problems with food, and just so long as there is some, I don't really care either," he intoned, smiling slightly. "Yue's getting a little agitated though. On the one hand, he seems to be giving off the aura that he can't wait for us to just move in together and on the other hand he seems to be giving the aura off that he doesn't want to be alone."

"No one wants to be alone. And besides, Yue's a twin so it's probably a little harder than it would be for brothers. I mean, I'm a little worried and we're not nearly as close," she shrugged giving out some rarely seen insight.

"Ah, we're close enough," he shrugged.

"Just be _nice_."

"Fine," he sighed.

* * *

The boardroom was actually quite cosy to be in considering he was being sued. The fine chestnut table that covered the centre of the room was furnished with a light polish and the chairs that accompanied it were soft but firm. The Mayor's budget was obviously well used. And Eriol said as much.

"Well, when the last Mayor practically demolished three of the conference rooms we felt that it was only pertinent that we get them rebuilt to be as comfortable and as practical as possible," the Mayor's PA, Jessica O'Hara answered from across the table.

"I think that you should be focusing less on my taste in decor and more on the fact that you have publically named my son a 'gay'," said Mayor John Marbury¹. He was sat next to Jessica and three different lawyers. On Eriol's side was one lawyer plus himself. Not that the bluenette felt deterred in any way or form.

"First, there is no such thing as 'a gay'. That's just bad English. Second, your son is already out publically and just because it hasn't been mentioned in the papers before doesn't mean that no one knows. Third, your son is twenty-seven and a friend of a friend. I doubt _he_ minds that I mentioned him in reference to both myself and one Sakura Kinomoto," pushing his glasses up his nose so that the light was reflected to the rest of the room, Eriol smiled secretively clasping his hands over his lap.

"I am well aware of my son's current disposition. You, however, had no right to mention him – or any others for that matter – when deflecting a question addressed to yourself," one of Marbury's lawyers spoke up.

"Yet this country has always allowed the freedom of speech and there is no law or legal action that you can take in which you can pursue that is legally relevant to my client," Eriol's lawyer, Philip Jonson, responded.

"Except the fact that you publically involved this office with some scandalous fiction in which you have no proof, and that is what we are suing you over," a second of Marbury's lawyers said.

"And what would you like to offer to end all of this now?" Philip asked, raising one eyebrow at the other mans tone.

"£16,000,000 plus a statement refuting the comments previously made and one Eriol Hiiragizawa's resignation."

"Absolutely not," Eriol answered immediately. "We'll see you in court where these allegations you are trying to sue me for won't hold up. Thank you for your time today my lady, gentlemen."

Standing, Philip quickly followed suit as Eriol gracefully stood and began to leave the room.

"The deal is only being offered until next Friday, Mr. Hiiragizawa. You have until then," Marbury spoke from his seat.

"Thank you, John. But that won't be necessary."

##################################################

"Was that wise?" Philip asked as he stood in the _Lady Yelan_'s foyer.

"Probably not. But they can't win, and even if they do I'll have to suffer far less terms," Eriol pointed out. "Besides, I have an 'ace-in-the-hole', so to speak. Well, I hope I do, anyway."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Eriol. I don't work for just anyone, you know."

"I know. Thank you for all of this, Philip. I hope I know what I'm doing too."

Nodding to each other, they parted ways with Philip leaving the building and Eriol making his way to the elevator. He knew that he had no right to be asking Syaoran for any favours, but he also didn't want any of this falling on Sakura.

Stepping out of the lift after a few short minutes, Eriol walked as casually as possible down the floor and to the large office at the end. Coming to a stop at the desk in front of the door, Syaoran's beautiful secretary and cousin was sat with her head over a small stack of files. Clearing his throat to catch her attention, his Cheshire-cat smile dropped immediately when he caught sight of the large purple bruises covering one side of her face.

"What happened?"

"Nothing. Who are you?" She asked sharply, eyes slanted in a suspicious glare.

"Eriol. We've talked over the phone on several occasions. It seems strange that this is the first time we've met," he replied, bring an easy smile to his face to try to reassure her. Her face immediately lit up at the sound of his name and his smile got a little easier at that. "So, what happened?"

"I fell in the shower."

"Do showers have knuckle-shaped bumps in them?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, eyes wide.

"You can tell me. I know how to get things done under the radar," he pushed.

"I fell in the shower. End of story," she insisted with so much gusto that he couldn't argue.

"Okay then. Is he in?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure that he wants to see you right now," she replied leaning back over the stack of papers. "You can go in anyway."

"Thanks. I'm here if you need me though."

Knocking lightly on the closed door, Eriol didn't wait for a reply before entering. When he did, he was almost knocked over by how beautiful Syaoran was. Even though it had only been a few days, it was like Eriol had forgotten those smooth cheek bones, those large, bright and intelligent eyes and those wonderful delicious lips. Licking his own at the thought, he had to swallow back a spurt of words that were certainly _not_ appropriate at this point in time.

He really was a hentai.

"Yes?"

"Syaoran."

Watching those beautiful amber eyes meet his own blue-grey ones, Eriol wondered for a moment just what he had been thinking when suggesting a break.

"What are you doing here? Is something wrong?" Syaoran worried placing the files in his hands down and standing back from leaning against his desk.

"Not with me, no. But I've just come from the first of a few meetings pertaining to the lawsuit. With what they are trying to charge me with, it might reflect badly on Sakura. I was actually hoping we could work together to prevent that from happening," the bluenette responded. Shutting the door behind him, he pushed his previous thoughts on the lean figure in front of him and tried to focus on the reason he was here in the first place.

"You'll be fine, though?" He queried.

"Yes, thank you."

"Okay. I'm more than happy to use whatever connections I have to help. And if you ever need it, I want to help you too. Just because I'm mad at you doesn't mean that I want to see you in a bad way," the brunette replied. Syaoran licked his lips and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Of course."

Before a second had even gone by, Eriol felt those soft lips press against his. Surrendering immediately, Eriol wrapped his arms around the others slim waist and slid his tongue into Syaoran's mouth. Humming in pleasure, he realised suddenly that he had _missed_ this.

Pulling away after a few moments, Syaoran's face was bright red in front of his own pink tinted one.

"Sorry."

"That's okay."

"This doesn't mean that we're back on, you know."

"I know. It was _very_ nice and I thoroughly enjoyed it," Eriol said, grinning mischievously.

"Hentai."

"Of course."

* * *

Putting the finishing touches on the last of her twenty-three designs, Tomoyo smiled with the happiest sigh passing her lips. She knew that she should have been supporting Sakura, but her job was slowly taking a nosedive and she had to use everything she had to pull it back up. So, here she was with her beautifully finished designs and she decided to just take in the moment. Finally, the first of three of her lines was complete.

"Okay, ladies, gents! Well done on helping me complete the first fashion line this year!" She addressed the room in general. The small room erupted into cheers and clapping. Holding her hand up to calm the room down, she continued: "This line is going to be presented at this year's _London Fashionworks_² and you should all have a large glass of champagne when you get home. Until then, we have two more lines to start and complete by the end of next month, so let's get to work on those. Thank you!"

Walking back into her office, Tomoyo rubbed at her temples again. Giving into her inner urges, the young designer took out a packet of pain killers from her bag and popped out four. It was two over what she should actually be taking, but her headache had just been upgraded to a migraine and she wanted it _gone_. Unscrewing the top of her bottled water, she quickly swigged back the pills before replacing the bottles lid.

Rubbing her head once more, she moved to the large filing cabinet at the back of the room and pulled out the second largest folder which held the next twenty designs which she and her team were going to bring to life within the next month.

Glancing back at her bag she wondered at how long the pills would take to come into effect and when she would be able to let herself have the next lot. Four hours was a long time off.

"Sorry, boss!" Gypsy panted as he dashed into the clubs changing room.

"Just, Gypsy! You're on in six minutes so get to it!" The club owner yelled from across the room.

"Yes, boss!"

Shoving his bag into his locker, Gypsy removed his coat and dashed behind one of the dressing screens after grabbing his costume. Tonight he was wear a black leather corset-style top and matching leather hot-pant-shorts. Shimmying into the costume he spend a minute slipping on knee high leather boots and ruffling his hair before placing a police-mans-style cap over it.

"Ready and with two minutes to go! That's pretty impressive, Gypsy," one of the other dancers commented from her mirror.

"Thanks Rogue. You're looking good tonight. You're boyfriend propose or something?" Gypsy smiled at her, walking to the curtain which separated the changing room from the stage.

"Nothing like that. Although he _did_ treat me to a _very_ nice dinner at one of the ritziest places in town," she smirked.

"Nice," he laughed. Gypsy had always gotten on with Rogue. She wasn't an exotic dancer because of her past or because she wanted to practice. She had this job because it was what she did, and she didn't care for anyone else's opinion on the matter. He quite liked that.

"Oi! Gypsy! I want a word with you when you get off that stage," the boss yelled.

"Okay!"

Stepping out to take his place on the stage, the brunette had to wait only a few seconds before the next track began. Twisting and turning, Gypsy gracefully stepped and moved in time to the vibrations running throughout the club. Most of the men and women there had their eyes fixed on him and this sent a slight chill up his spine. What sent a delicious shiver up his spine was when his eyes met with dark blue-grey ones while he knelt with his right leg splayed to the ground. Smoothly standing and wrapping his other leg around the pole, Gypsy let his eyes stray to the bluenette sat at the bar at the back of the room.

It was another two hours before he left the stage, and Gypsy was well aware of a set of stormy eyes following his every movement.

"You wanted to see me?" the dancer asked once he was past the curtain.

"Yeah. Is it true that you're competing in a dance competition? That wins you quite a bit of money?" His boss asked.

"Yes. But it won't take any time from here!"

"Doesn't matter. I'm sorry, Gypsy. Really. You're a good dancer and you've brought me in a lot of new customers, but-"

"I don't want the money," Gypsy stated before the man could continue. Smiling sadly at the dancer, his boss shook his head.

"Doesn't matter. It's in your contract, Gypsy. You get paid cash in hand and you don't have to give any form of identity provided you dance at this club alone. I'm sorry but once you've finished your shift... you're done."

Nodding, Gypsy understood where the man was coming from. He had literally walked in off the street a couple of years before and he had wanted to keep his identity completely secret. His soon-to-be ex-boss was a great guy, and he had been good enough not to ask questions.

"Thanks, Boss. I really appreciate what you've done for me. If _you_ need anything, just come and find me. I'd be happy to help where I can," smiling back Gypsy shook the Bosses hand before changing into his next costume for the last part of his shift, and his last dance in the club.

* * *

¹A reference to 'Lord John Marbury' from 'West Wing'. I love the guy and his eccentricies, but Mayor Marbury isn't going to be anything like him.

²I made this up. If there is actually anything out there by this name, I would love to know!


	14. Part 12

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

**NOTE:** Thank you to all my readers and my amazing reviewer, but I would like to make a small point. This fic has quite a large amount of views for each chapter, the latest being 1,081 for Part 11 and yet only 1 review? Tell me there's not something wrong with that picture? I don't mind flames and I love critical reviews as much as praising ones, so anything is good. Thank you!

**Review Replies:**

**JBubbles:** Awww! Thank you so much! I'm glad that you're getting all the intense atmosphere and that what I want the reader to feel is actually coming through! ^_^ I am also very happy that you enjoyed re-reading this fic and I am definitely going to keep updating this fic, but there will be at least a week between each upload due to things going on at home. Anyways, thank you once again! ^_^

**Warning:** A bit more violence in this one, but not as bad.

"Blah blah blah" is speech  
"_Blah blah blah_" is the person talking on the other end of the phone  
####### is a time cut, but with the same people at the same place

**Gypsy Dance  
**by Brooding Darkness

**Part 12**

Sitting down on the plush cream couch, Sakura was wearing a light green blouse and a pretty black pencil skirt which she was trying not to brush down every other minute. The interview was just between Yamazaki, Syaoran and herself, and yet she was nervous about it. Syaoran was currently in the kitchen making some well needed English tea for the three of them, and she could hear him humming quietly to himself as he went about collecting the cups and various ingredients while he waited for the kettle to finish boiling.

Sitting across from her, Yamazaki smiled broadly, but quietly, while waiting for the tea to be brought in. The three of them had decided to get settled before starting the interview proper but the two of them didn't really know each other, so without sounding like the interview had been started, Yamazaki wasn't quite sure what to say.

"Syaoran tells me you're engaged," Sakura spoke quietly.

"Yes! And she is the most perfect woman in the world – when she's not strangling me, anyway," he laughed. She smiled back shakily, her mind instantly going to one of her modelling friends and the stories she usually tells about her fiancée.

"The wedding plans must be hectic. I know my brother's trying not to get involved in his _own_ wedding," she continued trying to keep the conversation light.

"Yes, but that's why _she's_ been planning all of this since she was five. This way, _I_ don't have to get involved," he laughed again. She grinned back feeling a little lighter about the whole thing.

"Here we are!" Syaoran announced placing a tray down onto the small table in front of the couch and chairs. The three cups had already been filled and a small plate of cupcakes with fancy coloured icing was settled between them.

"_How_ do you always manage to find everything in a kitchen and make food taste soo good?" Yamazaki exclaimed diving straight into the cupcakes.

"I _do not_ always know where everything is, it's just that things are generally put in the same places. And as for my cooking, you only think that because if your fiancée isn't cooking for you, you generally have to cook for yourself and honestly, you're not that good," Syaoran teased grinning at his friend.

"Doesn't matter! I will _always_ love your cooking, Ran."

"Thanks, Zaki."

"'Ran'?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Yeah. Why? What do you call him?" Yamazaki asked confused himself.

"By my given name. You're the only one who calls me that," Syaoran explained. Looking at Sakura straight on, he continued: "And Zaki will be the _only_ one."

Nodding, Sakura wondered at the man before her. He had _never_ let anyone give him a nickname before and she was pleasantly surprised to see that he had changed this much since the time she had left him at the altar.

"So, do you want to begin?" Yamazaki asked, directing the question solely at the auburn haired model.

"Sure," she answered taking a deep breath.

"Okay. Well to begin with, is it true that you are in fact a homosexual?"

"Yes."

"Cool. So-"

"Cool?" She interrupted.

"Yeah, why?" He blinked.

"You don't find it disgusting?"

"No. Syaoran's gay and I don't care about that either," he supplied.

"Except when asking for sexual details. You're the other hentai that I know by the way," Syaoran mock-glared.

"Yep! Anyway how did you feel when you discovered that you were lesbian?" He asked gently, hoping that his tone would reassure her somewhat.

"Heavy. I was actually relieved to feel that I'd finally figured out just who I was, but at the same time I was horrified that I wouldn't be accepted. I felt heavy."

"Why?" Syaoran asked, surprised.

"What do you mean 'why'?" she shot back incredulous.

"Well, Touya had already set out the ground work since he's gay himself, so you _know_ that your family would accept you. And you're so friendly with everyone all of your friends would remain completely loyal to you," he shrugged.

"That's not true!"

"Did your family accept you?"

"Yes."

"And did your friends remain loyal to you?"

"Yes."

"Case closed."

Blinking at him in shock, she tried to think of a comeback of any kind but came up blank.

"Shut up!"

Yes, because _that_ was a good comeback.

"Any~way... you felt heavy? How did you think your sexuality would affect your work?" Yamazaki continued.

"Hopefully it wouldn't. I don't usually mix work with pleasure, so I kind of just hoped that it would never come up. Barring that? My manager is openly gay and has been for as long as I've known him, so him knowing was never an issue. But I've always liked to think that the fashion world would be the most open minded about it," she smiled.

"Haha, yeah. I think that was how my fiancée finally decided to actually date me after years of begging: the world of fashion was full of tall, gorgeous, _gay_ men, so that didn't leave her with much of a choice," Yamazaki laughed. The two of them had actually been engaged since they were very young, but it had certainly helped in the two of them getting to know each other better.

"Oh? She's in the fashion industry?" Sakura asked, pieces beginning to fit into place.

"Yeah, she works as a clothes fitter and a part-time model."

"You mean she's too good for you, Zaki," Syaoran joked, poking the other male in the ribs.

"Yep." Nodding his head solemnly for a moment, the two of them just grinned at each other while Sakura had a small epiphany.

"Chiharu! You're engaged to Chiharu?" She asked with eyes wide.

"Yeah! You know her?"

"Are you kidding me? We've been friends since I started working at my current agency! How have I not heard your name?" Shaking her head in disbelief she could only agree with Yamazaki's reply.

"Small world."

* * *

Glancing in a mirrored window, Meiling growled internally as she noticed that Cleon was following her again. All week he had insisted on waiting outside her apartment building, following her into coffee shops and to her workplace. She had not had one day without catching at least one glance of him. She had been slowly getting angrier and angrier with him, but today she had not felt in control.

"Would you _stop_ following me?" She raged, spinning on her high heels.

"No," the blonde stated. Grabbing one of her arms, he pulled her into a deserted side street so that their conversation couldn't be overheard. "You keep missing our dates."

"We're not dating, and we're not going on any dates," she spat out. Wrenching her arm away from his grip, she felt that they were going around in circles and like her cousin, she hated circular arguments.

"Yes we are. And if you miss one more I'm going to strap you to my bedpost," he glared. "So be. On. Time." Walking back out onto the street, Cleon crossed the road not even glancing at the red eyed woman he had left behind.

"It's a good thing its cold," Meiling muttered to herself rubbing her arm where she just knew a new bruise was forming. She had never been gladder that she had stocked up on long sleeved shirts than over the past week.

Following the blonde out onto the street, Meiling continued to make her way to one of the mirrored windowed buildings where she was sure Yue was waiting for her – despite the fact that she was actually ten minutes early.

Turning at the next left corner, Meiling smirked as she noticed that her prediction had been right. In all his silver haired glory, the tall man was stood with his hair tied back in a twirled bun, with the ends handing out fashionably yet tidily, a white shirt unbuttoned at the top and a straight black suit. His sharp features were almost model-like and yet all the black haired woman could see was the sheer arrogance and coldness emanating off of it.

"Hey, Ice Queen! Waiting long?" She smirked coming to stand next to him.

"Please do not address me as such, and no, I have not," nodding to her, he pursed his lips while silently signalling for her to guide him into the building. Rolling her eyes and sighing in exasperation, the red eyed woman did just that, completely missing the worried look in his usually cool eyes as he noticed bruising on her left wrist and just on the outside of her shirt neckline.

"You coming? Or are you just going to wait outside?" She smirked.

"I'm right behind you," he sighed. He was almost sure that she could take care of herself.

* * *

Typing up several messages, Eriol wondered just _how_ he had thought that commenting on the Mayor's son's sexuality was a good idea. He knew that the man was quite public with his sexuality, so Eriol hadn't initially thought there would be any trouble with mentioning it. If anything, he and Nathan Marbury had regularly gone to gay bars to pick up or just chat up guys. And the Mayor knew that.

He had been up half the night with Phillip going over several old cases with regarded the same allegations and conclusions that they were going through and hoping to get. There was definitely going to be a trial if the two of them couldn't get something together so that this could be settled outside of court. With so much on his mind, the bluenette was finding himself too busy to focus on his personal life – but that still didn't stop him from wanting to visit the club and just watch Gypsy. He wanted the man and this break was starting to take its toll on him. Especially after that kiss.

Smiling to himself, Eriol wondered if he couldn't somehow receive another one without taking the two of them away from what they both had to do, and what had to be done. At least he could watch Gypsy in the dance competition.

* * *

Swallowing three more pills, Tomoyo recapped her bottle of water before wiping at her brow delicately. Chewing on her lip, the amethyst eyed woman debated on which part of her next line of designs to focus on and which parts would take her the longest to do. There was so much more in this business than her past lecturers had told her about during her time in university. And there was so much more than she and Syaoran had discussed just before the two of them had graduated.

The headaches had been slowly getting worse, although Tomoyo couldn't say that for sure as it just seemed to be the same type of endless ache that she had been experiencing for the longest time.

Shaking herself out of her reverie, she gulped back the darker thoughts and decided to just get a few smaller pieces done before focusing on a more time consuming piece of her art. It was funny, really. Once she had loved his job more than anything, and now she was dreading each day she awoke in.

But she knew that she couldn't speak to anyone about this – not yet anyway. She had to be there for Sakura right now, and she needed to be there for Syaoran. Syaoran needed someone who could be straight but gentle with him and she was the only one that could fill that position.

Maybe one more pill wouldn't hurt.

* * *

Tottering into the kitchen, Sakura left Syaoran and Yamazaki to chat quietly to themselves as she went about making a quick LunDin¹ for them to chow down on before they continued the interview. The interview itself wasn't anything difficult and they kept getting off track so she wasn't sure how Yamazaki was keeping a record or what was even on record at the moment, but he seemed to know what he was doing and Syaoran didn't seemed concerned.

"So?"

"So?" Syaoran asked back, arching an eyebrow.

"We were talking over the phone and my boss interrupted. So? How are you feeling about everything?" he asked leaning forward slightly and keeping his voice low.

"I'm not sure," Syaoran replied, swirling the tea in his cup. "Eriol and I... Eriol and I are from completely different worlds. I mean we have plenty of things in common and we have similar backgrounds... but we're completely different."

"How? You just said that you were similar in both backgrounds and common traits," Yamazaki pointed out smiling.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," he scowled. "How you got that degree in Business Studies is beyond me if you didn't."

"Don't dodge the topic. You _know_ that I was asking how you're feeling about the break."

"I know. Sorry. It's just that... it's complicated. I feel relieved, but at the same time I feel like I don't want it. That's never happened before."

"You've never been on a break before," the black haired man pointed out.

"Yeah," the brunette chuckled quietly, sipping from his tea. "Gypsy helps."

"Gypsy always helps. By the way, is it strange for you to refer to him in a third point of view? It is a little for me."

"Not really. I have responsibilities and a business as well as all of my employees to take care of: Gypsy has just himself. I love being Gypsy, but Gypsy has to sleep while I'm awake and I have to be awake almost twenty-four seven," Syaoran replied, staring off into the wood patterning of the coffee table.

"Deep. And absolute bull. You can be Gypsy whenever you want, and you can count on other people to help you with your responsibilities. Besides, you _are_ Gypsy. Whenever you want to be and all the time." Picking up his tea, Yamazaki took a large gulp.

"Now _that's_ deep. And utter bull," Syaoran smirked back.

"Damn right!" Toasting their little chat, they grinned at each other.

"I do miss the sex though," Syaoran commented absently.

"I bet you do," he replied, eyebrows wiggling.

"Shut up."

"Buy a toy," Sakura smirked coming into the room and catching the last part of their conversation.

Spluttering, Syaoran's face burned bright red and he glared through the coughs at Yamazaki laughing his head off and then at the green eyed model.

"LunDin will be ready soon. Which type of sex do you miss?" Speaking like they were discussing the weather, Sakura took her seat again addressing Syaoran and watching his attempt to compose himself.

"Probably just sex in general," Yamazaki laughed.

"Shut up! And I meant with a guy, so you can get _those_ thoughts out of your head right now!" Syaoran coughed just about pulling himself together.

"Then do what I said, and buy a toy," Sakura smirked again.

"No!"

"Boo!"

"Shut up, Zaki!"

"Tomoyo said that you and Eriol aren't together? Why?" Now concerned, Sakura really wanted to know what was going on with the too now that they had some time to chinwag about it.

"..."

"They're on a break," Zaki supplied.

Eyes opening in surprise, her eyebrows rose and she wondered at how fast things must have gone. "Have you two even been seeing each other for that long?"

"That's what I said."

"Yes," speaking quietly, Syaoran sighed inwardly knowing that he would have to face this sometime. "And I don't like how fast we moved. I really like him, but I just _don't_ _do_ things like that. It's not me."

"And it's not Eriol. He must really like you to accept a break. Usually he'd just let the relationship go and part ways as friends. Are you sure that it's a break?" Sakura asked, curious.

"Yeah, it's definitely a break. We have talked since and he made it clear that he wants to pick things up when I'm ready. Besides, _he_ suggested the break."

"Really?!"

"Yeah."

"Well... maybe you two should take a holiday together," she suggested meekly, one finger tapping her chin lightly.

"A holiday?" Syaoran queried, wondering at how her mind worked – or how it didn't work. "And where would the both of us find the time? He has a court case pending plus the agency needing him with you, and I have a company to save, a company to run and several hundred contacts to sort through, plus-..."

"Plus?" Sakura prodded when the other brunette stopped mid-sentence.

"Plus... He's a complete hentai!"

Giggling, Sakura shook her head before leaping up as a buzzer when off in the kitchen. Dashing inside, she let the door swing closed behind her.

"Plus?" Yamazaki asked knowing a fake answer when he heard one. He was a renowned reporter for a good reason.

"Plus, I have the dance competition."

"Ah! And there it is! You don't have to actually leave to have a holiday, you know."

"Really? How does that work?"

"Me and Chiharu did it last year when I proposed 'properly'," he air-quoted. Seeing the raised eyebrow he continued. "We rented a room out at a cheap hotel and decorated the room to make it seem like we had rented a room in Tahiti. Maybe you two could do something similar?"

"And if the papers catch wind? It's not like we're not mentioned and what with the court case recently, it wouldn't really be practical for us," Syaoran bemoaned. He actually liked the sound of it, but things were just too complicated right now.

"Then maybe when things have calmed down."

"Yeah, maybe."

"So, what about the sex do you miss?"

"I really have surrounded myself with hentai's haven't I?" Syaoran rolled his eyes at the ceiling. "All of it, I guess. I like the feeling afterwards which is kinda new."

"Waow. What about during?"

"Seriously?" ¬_¬

"Seriously." ^_^

"I don't know... good. Great. Nice." Blushing down to his neck, Syaoran wondered at how he got himself into these conversations.

"Safe?"

"Safe? What do you mean, 'safe'?"

"You know... safe. Like you don't need to throw him out at the end of the night."

"I guess. Why?"

"You don't feel that way with other people."

"How would you know?" Shaking his head at the other man, Syaoran began to question the world's sanity.

"Because... You throw them out at the end of the night. But not with this one," smiling sadly, Yamazaki wondered at how Syaoran had gotten into this state. The black haired man felt like he had an inkling as to why, but not the how.

Nodding in silent answer, Syaoran viewed the last dregs of his tea. "I need a beer."

"You need to get drunk."

"Okay. How about after the interview?"

"Okay."

Grinning at each other they were both reminded as to why they were friends.

* * *

¹This is something that me and my friends call a snack time between lunch and dinner. It can also be a quick meal. You can use the term if you want ^_^.

**BroodingDarkness:** Yeah, I know it's a bit shorter than usual, but I wanted to get the interview out of the way. Anyways, thank you for reading and please, **please**, _please_ review! I would like anything! Thank you!


	15. Part 13

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

**Note:** I sincerely apologise for this going up so late! In my defence, Assassin's Creed is extremely addictive and with AC3 coming out in November I've decided to replay all the four previous games and complete them with 100%. As I've said, it's really addictive, but I'm going to update twice this week to make up for it! Thank you for your patience!

**Review Replies:**

**JBubbles:** Thanks for pointing that out! Originally when I was writing it I had moved on in my head and I had the word 'expect' running around, but I've now changed it, so thank you again! As for the emoticons, when I actually wrote out their expressions, it didn't really give the moment the emphasis and quickness of how they were saying the word, so I felt that the emoticons got the trick done better. And thank you so much for pointing all of this out to me; this is pretty much what I need from reviews. Anyways, I'm glad that you liked the chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too!

**A big Thank you to all of my reviewers as they always make my day!**

**Warning:** Sexual content of the yaoi kind. Nothing too explicit as fanfiction is clamping down.

"Blah blah blah" is speech  
"_Blah blah blah_" is the person talking on the other end of the phone  
####### is a time cut, but with the same people at the same place

**Gypsy Dance  
**by Brooding Darkness

**Part 13**

The first of the three buildings that they were going to see was just as large as the rest of the buildings that they had seen thus far and Yue had the feeling that the other two – right along with every other building besides – would be of the same size and type. The current building held the same three features as the last: it was tall with long glass windows; it had a cool yet welcoming look of a fresh new building made with the newest and highest technology available; and it was situated in one of the busiest areas in the city. For most business men this would be the perfect building – just as the last twenty buildings they had viewed would have been.

But, not to one Tsukishiro Yue.

Yue was looking for the perfect building which would combine everything they needed technologically along with everything he wanted to make the place classy, styled and traditional. He had made that perfectly clear to Li Meiling almost every time she had taken him to see one of these new age buildings, yet somehow, she always showed him the same type with the next building they went to view.

"Finally! Where have you been?" Yue asked scowling as the red eyed woman bounded up to him. This was the fourth time she had turned up late this week, and the silver haired man was beginning to get irritated by it.

"Sorry! Sorry! I was just... Never mind. Sorry I'm late, but I'm here now," she shook her head, brushing her long dark locks over the back of her shoulder. She was dressed quite well this morning, if a bit rumpled, but that didn't stop Yue from seeing the faint markings on her left wrist.

"Well, we better get on with this then," he uttered, looking down the street at the corner the young woman had just emerged from. The bruising wasn't as bad as it had been the day before, but it was still noticeable, and Yue wondered just how Syaoran had either missed it or just not seen it.

"Yeah." Leading the way down the street and away from the new age building, Yue was only slightly surprised when she smirked as they turned the next corner. "Since you keep disregarding the buildings we've been viewing for the past few weeks, I thought that there should be a change of pace." Smiling brightly, Meiling practically skipped along in her bright red high heels as they crossed the street and moved passed the next new age office building.

"Where are we going?"

"To see the building that I've personally picked out for you. You'll love it," she smirked again.

Yue had no idea if she was being sarcastic and just messing with him, or if she genuinely felt that she had finally found the perfect office space for his and Yukito's companies head office to move into.

"I'm sure."

A comfortable silence passed between them as they both stepped onto the curb and continued to make their way through the crowding streets of Greater Manchester. It was an excellent place of business and Yue had to admit that most of the businesses in this area were not only family businesses that had been around for at least one hundred years, but they were traditional, stylish and the majority of the buildings had a kind of historic twist on the technological advantages that had taken place.

"I don't usually pry or comment on other people's personal lives – including my twin brother's – but I must ask..."

"Whoa! Back up there, Ice Queen! _You_ actually care about something? Something besides finding the perfect office building?" Meiling asked walking backwards once again while staring in mock wide eyed amazement.

"...Yes. Anyway, however you are obtaining those bruises you should stop it."

Stopping in place, Meiling's face went still without even missing a beat while still walking backwards. "It's not like I bruise myself on purpose. It's that stupid jewellery! I've stopped wearing it now so they should disappear."

Raising one silver eyebrow, the silverette merely nodded before looking past her and at the people who were making a measured effort to avoid the black haired woman stepping backwards on her heels.

* * *

Groaning inwardly for what felt like the infinite time that morning, Syaoran wondered just why he only went out drinking with Yamazaki on week days, and why the two of them always managed to get so drunk that he only remembered the beginning of the night and nothing else. Rubbing his left temple, the brunette sighed quietly to himself.

"Is everything alright, sir?" Karen, one of his many secondary secretaries who usually answered directly to Meiling, asked him as she placed a green file onto his desk.

"I'm fine thank you, Karen. It's just a small headache, nothing an ibuprofen can't fix," he smiled slightly at her. Nodding in reply, the blonde quickly excused herself, shutting the door behind her.

***RING RING RIN-***

"Hello?"

"_You sound awful!_"

"Thanks, Hiiragizawa."

"_What exactly did you and that reporter get up to?_" Eriol sounded both amused and agitated, but without seeing his face, Syaoran wasn't sure if he was imagining the second emotion or not.

"We just went out for a few drinks. And then, as always, 'Zaki got me into a... err... _slight_ competition."

"_Slight competition? What exactly equates to a 'slight competition' that gets you _that_ drunk?_"

"You don't wanna know," Syaoran groaned, putting a hand to his aching head.

"_Did anything I should know about happen?_" Eriol enquired knowing that he was stepping into dangerous territory.

"What?"

"_Did anything that I should know about happen?_" Hoping that Syaoran would interpret the question in the way it was intended and not in the way it sounded, the bluenette mentally held his breath.

"You mean 'did I do anything stupid and not get home safely'? Well, no Eriol! I got hammered slept with several prostitutes before pretending to be Charles Peace¹ and robbing a number of houses before finally going back to 'Zaki's place for some hot sex," Syaoran droned sarcastically.

"_Oh? Did anyone catch you?_"

"Yes. They were supposed to hang me at dawn, but since I was being so good, they decided to let me off with a warning. What the _hell_ are you on about? We went for a few drinks and then we went back to mine before getting thoroughly drunk and Yamazaki's fiancée had to come a take him home!"

"_I'm sorry, but I had to ask. It's actually in the papers that you went out drinking, but it doesn't give any actual information so I thought I'd ask_," Eriol replied apologetic. He really had just been asking after the other male's state. "_Anyway, I actually called to see if you wanted to come over tonight so that we might talk_."

"About the case?"

"_Among other things_."

"Alright, what time?"

##################################################

It never failed to surprise Syaoran just how _small_ the mansion looked. He knew that that made him seem pretty stuck up, but Syaoran had been raised in the higher part of society where his father's Summer House was larger than the white mansion he had just entered. The building's main foyer was a small square area which led off to a narrow staircase on one side and several doors leading to various rooms surrounding the ground floor. Trying not to turn pink, Syaoran wondered just what sort of lifestyle he must have had as a child that led him to believe the building to be 'small'.

Regardless, Syaoran waited patiently for Eriol to make his appearance while viewing the pretty landscape paintings hung on the walls.

"Syaoran."

Smiling gently, Eriol gracefully made his way down the stairs admiring the way Syaoran looked in his home. The brunette was dressed in a more casual coal grey suit with a white and pastel blue thin stripped shirt unbuttoned at the top, with no tie. His hair was lightly ruffled from the typical British wind and the light smile that was now lighting up his beautiful amber eyes almost took Eriol's breath away.

"Hello, Eriol. How have you been?" Trying to maintain eye contact, Syaoran forced himself not to check the bluenette out. The glassed clad man was dressed in a navy blue shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows and black trousers, his hair was neat as usual but the way it fell about his face made Syaoran's heart quicken slightly.

"Fine, although a little rushed from the impending case," the bluenette smiled reaching out a hand to the brunette. Pulling Syaoran close, Eriol gently kissed the other man momentarily forgetting all of his problems and focusing on the wonderful feeling that spread throughout his body. Drawing away slightly, Eriol smiled again. "You?"

"Fine. Although I think Meiling's keeping something from me. Otherwise, fine."

"Ah."

That put a bit of a damper on his mood. Eriol knew that something bad was going on with the vibrant young woman, but he'd figured that Syaoran would've known by now. And Eriol's guess as to _what_ was going on was not good on any level.

"You should talk to her and not let her leave until she's told you what's wrong," the glasses clad man advised seriously.

"Later tonight. I've actually just been trying to make time. I've been so busy and whenever I manage to make time she keeps brushing me off," Syaoran shrugged shaking his head slightly in frustration.

"Okay, well, I'm sure the two of you will be able to sort it all out. How about we go somewhere a bit more comfortable," smiling brightly, Eriol led them to a room on the right which was a beautifully decorated sitting room complete with plush chairs and a large couch, a small coffee table and various gold and red decorated ornaments. Taking a seat on the right side of the couch, Eriol patted the area next to him.

"So, what do you want to talk about first?" Syaoran asked, taking a seat in the indicated area.

"The case. I don't want you involved in any way or form."

"Good, because I'm not going to be. It's hard enough keeping Gypsy secret without being in a relationship that could be brought forward in front of a court."

"But, I _do_ want your advice every now and then. Will that be okay?" Eriol asked, taking one of Syaoran's hands in his.

"That's fine," the brunette smiled brightly. "But I'm no lawyer, so what I may say might mean nothing. And you might not like everything that I have to say, at that."

"That's perfectly fine, of course," Eriol smiled back. "Speaking of lawyers, I would like to ask if you have a good one."

"Why?"

"Well, if you're going to be running around like Charles Peace then you'll need a good one."

Laughing lightly, the two shared a quick look before Eriol gave in. Leaning over again, Eriol quickly took Syaoran's lips with his own gripping the brunettes hand lightly and trying to keep himself in check.

"Eriol?" Syaoran murmered.

"Yes?"

"Get your hand off of my thigh."

"Ah."

Pulling away, Eriol merely smiled mysteriously, not even a little ashamed at his blatant attempt to touch the other man. Being fair, Eriol felt that he had actually done a good job of keeping himself in check.

"You want me?"

"Of course."

"Yet you put us on a break?" Syaoran frowned.

"I know. Looking at you right now, I'm regretting it immensely."

"You have no shame."

"Naturally," laughing, Eriol brushed Syaoran's cheek lightly.

"Stop that. This is exactly why we shouldn't be alone together."

"_You_ agreed to come and see _me_," Eriol protested.

"After _you_ insisted. I'm not ready to stay in a full relationship yet, Eriol, and you _know _that." Leaning back and away from the bluenette, Syaoran crossed his arms lightly.

"Which is why I suggested the break. If you think we were moving too fast, then that was the best way to take a step back and still remain in a relationship of a sort," sitting back himself, Eriol relaxed back into the comfortable couch knowing the argument that was coming.

"Then you should stop jumping me," Syaoran retaliated.

"Excuse me, but I do believe that _you_ jumped _me_," the bluenette smiled recalling the moment in the CEO's office.

Blushing bright red, Syaoran acknowledged the incident, but pushed on. "I was referring back to the club and almost every event thereafter."

"I know. And I apologise if you felt pushed or pressured in any way but you can't really blame me."

"_How_ can I _not_ blame you?"

"You always look sexy."

"Hentai." Growling lightly, Syaoran glared at the other man mentally preparing himself to leave.

As if Eriol could sense this, the bluenette took Syaoran's hand once more, smiling apologetically at his given answer if just because he didn't really have an answer. Syaoran tended to have that effect on him.

"Don't."

"Don't?"

"Don't try to pull any moves, they won't work and I'm not in the mood."

"I wasn't, really. I just don't know how to get to a comfortable place with you," the manager admitted.

"Then ask," the brunette sighed. Running a hand through his already messy hair, Syaoran wondered how they were going to move on without ending it all. Standing, Syaoran uttered, "I should go."

"You just got here." Standing now, too, Eriol frowned slightly wanting the brunette to stay.

"Why? We've talked and it's not really got us anywhere. I feel like we've said all we can say for now, and we need to know where to move to now before we can actually make the move."

"Alright," Eriol sighed back. "At least let me have another kiss?"

"Fine," Syaoran smiled.

Leaning over, the brunette lightly brushed his lips against the others, letting himself sink into the touch. Eriol's arms wrapped themselves around his waist and Syaoran's arms moved around the other's shoulders in reply. The kiss continued as the two pressed themselves lightly against each other, letting the kiss sink into them and ignoring the emotions that they had both felt just moments before. Licking at Syaoran's lower lip, Eriol pushed past the brunettes defences and plunged into that hot mouth.

Moaning into the kiss, Syaoran felt his knees grow weak tightening his hold on the other man and letting the bluenette carry his weight slightly. Tightening his arms in silent reply, Eriol moved lightly so that they both sank into the plush couch. Leaning so that Syaoran was lay below him, stretched out and lips still locked with Eriol laying over him.

Pulling away reluctantly, the bluenette shifted their positions so that they were both laying straight across the couch, the brunette panting below him, face flushed and bright amber eyes filled with lust.

"Eriol," Syaoran breathed.

_That_ snapped his restraint. Diving back into that glorious mouth, Eriol pushed off the coal grey suit jacket, nimbly unbuttoning the other's shirt before pulling the two of them back just enough so that the articles of clothing could be removed. Responding in kind, Syaoran's fingers quickly unbuttoned Eriol's shirt pushing it back and off the pale expanse of skin hidden beneath the silky cloth.

Moaning together when their bare chests _finally_ pressed against each other, Syaoran threw all rational thought out of the window and grasped as much of that delicious skin as he could. Running one hand through the dark blue tinted hair and the other hand ran its way down to the button and zip on the other's trousers.

Grinding down, Eriol ran his fingers over the soft lightly tanned skin pushing the two of them further into the couch. He was thoroughly enjoying the feel of Syaoran's hand tugging in his hair and brushing over his growing erection. Grinding downwards again, the bluenette hummed into the kiss before sitting up and over the debauched CEO.

"You _do_ want this?" Eriol gasped.

"_Yes,_" Syaoran whispered, bucking his hips upwards and into Eriol's to illustrate his desire.

"Thank _God!_"

Unzipping Syaoran's trousers Eriol pulled the coal grey material off of his lover along with the pastel blue boxers as Syaoran unbuttoned and unzipped Eriol's. Leaving the brunette completely naked on the soft couch, Eriol stepped back and out of his own black trousers and equally black boxers before laying himself back over the brunette. Stroking his fingers over the well formed abdomen, Syaoran let the other man take him into sweet bliss for the next hour.

Later on, as they cuddled together letting the white bliss flow through them as they calmed down, Syaoran thought, not for the first time, that _this_ part of their relationship was perfect. And that if only it could cross over to their everyday lives then everything would be perfect.

"We have dinner with Sakura and Tomoyo later," Syaoran recalled.

"Hhhmmmm."

Laughing lightly, Syaoran poked the pale man lightly. "You still alive?"

"_That_ was _great_."

"Yeah," sighing happily, the brunette snuggled again, wondering if they would ever actually be able to keep their hands to themselves. And when the next time they could do this would be.

"Dinner?"

"Yeah. With Sakura and Tomoyo."

"Okay."

* * *

"Are you feeling okay?" Sakura asked, rubbing the amethyst eyed woman's shoulder lightly. The green eyed model had noticed that Tomoyo had not completely been herself recently and that she had been rubbing her temples a lot. Sakura had also noticed that the designer had been taking a large number of pills lately. And it wasn't something that she liked.

"I'm fine. I just wish this headache would go away," the dark haired woman laughed, brushing the pain off.

"You've had that for a long while now, Tomoyo. Maybe you should go see a doctor," Syaoran said, resting his hand lightly on the small of her back.

"I did, and he gave me some stronger pain killers. If it's not gone by next week, then I'm supposed to go back. Honestly though, I think that it's just the pressure of the fashion show coming up. I've finished one line and I'm part way through another, but I've got two more to go before I can even look at the light at the end of the tunnel."

"Okay, just make sure that you sleep regularly and if need be, hand off some of the work to one of your assistants. That's what they're there for," Eriol commented.

"I would, but sometimes they just don't know how to do what I'm asking them to do. It's like they never went to design school!" Tomoyo sighed exasperated. Laughing, the four moved to seat themselves in their chairs at the restaurants table.

As he understood it, this was one of the best restaurants in the city and apparently they served particularly good English meals. Syaoran had been looking forward to this for most of the week.

"Anyway! We're here to get out of the office, so let's try to have some fun, yeah?" Syaoran smiled.

"Haven't you had enough fun recently?" Sakura smirked across the table before she viewed her menu. Smirking right back, he shrugged.

"Oh, I'm sure that he's had plenty of fun! What with getting drunk, having sex..."

"What?"

"What?!"

"How do you _know _these things?" Syaoran groaned.

Giggling, Tomoyo smirked wickedly. "Oh, please! I know everything!"

"_No_, you just always seem to know when some ones had sex," he growled back. Eriol's cheeks had flushed a pretty pink and Sakura leaned in as she listened to listen better to the conversation.

"Either way, what an exciting week it's been for you!"

"And it's only getting _better!_" The brunette put his head in one of his hands, leaning his elbow onto the table, speaking sarcastically.

"Oh, good!"

"Really?" Sakura asked, directing the question at her manager. He smiled brightly, nodding. He had really enjoyed the rushed shower and the way Syaoran had accepted his invitation to spend the night together after they left the girls to their own devices.

"It was certainly enjoyable on my part," Eriol smiled copying the Cheshire Cat.

"I bet it was," Tomoyo smirked.

"Why do I do this to myself?" Syaoran groaned quietly to himself. "I was normal before I met these people. I was innocent and naive, my mind never drifted to those sorts of things and I was _pure_."

"You were never pure, Syaoran. At least not when _I_ had my way with you," Eriol grinned over to the brunette, receiving a glare from the mentioned man and giggles galore from the girls.

"Shut up."

"At least you don't need to buy a toy anymore," Sakura said, trying to smile innocently. Coughing and going bright red, Syaoran moved his glare from Eriol and to the green eyed model.

"Toy?" Eriol and Tomoyo asked simultaneously.

Smirking, Sakura's eyes glinted as she hailed a waiter to give her order.

* * *

**Notes:**

¹Charles Peace was a famous British thief who was eventually caught and hanged for his crimes during the 1800's.

**BroodingDarkness:** Naughty, Sakura! Anyways the next part will up either tomorrow or the day after! Thank you so much and please, please, please, please, please, PLEASE review!


	16. Part 14

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP

**BroodingDarkness:** Here's the next one! Thank you! It's a bit longer than usual, but there's a lot more to get through now. Anyways, enjoy!

**Review Replies:**

**JBubbles:** Oh, good! Yes, they are 'practically' back together and the storyline is moving itself along! Thank you so much!

**James Birdsong:** Awww! Thank you! I'm glad that you think so!

**SanguisRubeus:** Yes she is. *Evil chuckle* Here's the next one! Thank you!

**A big Thank you to all of my reviewers as they always make my day!**

**Warning:** Mentions of violence and sexual references.

"Blah blah blah" is speech  
"_Blah blah blah_" is the person talking on the other end of the phone  
####### is a time cut, but with the same people at the same place

**Gypsy Dance  
**by Brooding Darkness

**Part 14**

"_How you find time to do all of this is beyond my knowing. I have a new found respect for designers because of you_," Eriol smiled over the phone.

"Thanks, Eriol. It _has_ been a lot of work but it'll all be worth it when I see her walk down that catwalk," Tomoyo sighed happily, if a little tiredly. She had been up most of the night finishing off three of the last outfits necessary for the next fashion shoot, but they were _finished_.

Pushing the door to the main building of _Dark Angel Fashions_¹ with the her mobile wedged between her shoulder and ear, one hand holding the three dresses that she had finished the previous night and a cup of milky coffee in the other, Tomoyo made an effort to keep her conversation going while trying not to appear too starry-eyed at the deal she had just made with _Clow Reed_². It was a simple phone conversation, but Sakura needed a nice and easy way back into the fashion industry and Tomoyo's latest Summer Line was the perfect opportunity. So, the two companies had made a 3 week contract for the green eyed model to work with Tomoyo before going back to her contract with _Clow Reed_.

Tomoyo was ecstatic, to say the least.

* * *

Spinning gracefully, Sakura admired the pure genius that must have gone into the long rose-pink dress she was currently wearing. The strapless gown spilled out with various shades of dark pink and light red slices flaring at the bottom like a roses petals opening out in the summer sun – or at least that was the thought behind the design. And to Sakura, that was exactly what it looked like.

"You are a _genius_!" She gasped, grinning brightly at young designer who was just stood in the doorway, smiling back gently at her.

"Thank you. Do you need any adjustments? There are another six outfits that I want you to try on before you go out there, but otherwise you look fantastic!" The dark haired woman stepped into the small changing area running a hand lightly down the silky material and then over equally silky peach skin.

"Not to the dress, but you can take my measurements again later," Sakura said huskily, smirking.

"Okay, but that'll have to wait until later," Tomoyo smirked right back. "Now, the next outfit is in the grey back with the number 4. After that, you can try the ones with number 7, 12, 18, 19 and 21."

"Roger!" Giggling lightly, the green eyed woman twirled back around quickly unzipping the back of the pink gown and then placing it gently onto the back of a provided chair. "Is Syaoran really coming to this?"

"Yes, he wants to support the both of us. Everyone already knows that the two of us are his friends, and he's never been against showing public support for his beliefs and right now, that's us."

"I know, but he's always so busy! And it's not like everyone knows how close Syaoran and I used to be."

"Let's hope they don't," Tomoyo cautioned. "I don't usually involve myself directly with my models since we use different agencies and I usually get told their sizes just before I actually start to put the cloth together, but keeping your personal life a secret is extremely hard to do these days and it's not something I'd advertise. So, I suggest that you keep your background between us for your own sake, not just Syaoran's."

Nodding at the sage advice, Sakura unzipped the grey plastic protection away from a yellow shirt and pants combination outfit.

* * *

Standing at the fake wall, Eriol motioned to one of the European models to step onto the catwalk and do her job. The blonde was pale, thin and too tall for his liking, but she was one of the studios favourites, so here she was.

"Eriol!"

"Ah, Sakura! You look wonderful! Tomoyo really does know how to make any design work even when the original model isn't being used," the bluenette admired.

"Thanks, Eriol. Honestly, it does feel like it was made for me," she grinned back.

"It _looks_ like it was made for you," he smiled back, waving behind her for the next model – Natasha, he thought – to get on stage after giving her a nod that she was dressed and ready to go on. "Are you ready for this?"

"Yes. I just want to get back out there and I'm grateful that I've got all of you supporting me. I don't think that I'll be able to do this alone." Wringing her hands, the model took a deep breath as Eriol lightly tapped the small of her back to indicate that it was her moment to enter onto the catwalk. Shaking herself lightly, Sakura straightened her back and stepped gracefully onto the catwalk and did what she did best.

* * *

Happy did not even begin to describe how Eriol had felt before he had entered Kaho's office. His love life was picking up and going quite well – even if the relationship itself wasn't quite sorted out beyond its physical nature – and his work life was quite good as well, what with the temporary contract between the two companies. He also had a good indication that he was going to win his case – especially since there was such a thing as free speech.

Then Eriol had walked into Kaho's office.

"Hello, Eriol. I'm glad to hear that the shoot went well, and Sakura-san did amazing as usual! It's like she never stopped," the Studio Director spoke, standing to shake his hand.

Returning the gesture, Eriol smiled his infamous Cheshire Cat smile replying, "Kaho. I don't think she ever really 'stopped', but yes, she _was_ wonderful. Now, what was it that you really wanted me to come in for?"

Taking a seat across from the long haired woman, Eriol crossed his legs elegantly and waited for her to begin speaking, all the while running through various discussions and scenarios that she could have possibly brought him in to converse on.

"Eriol, we've been working together for quite some time now, and we've even invested into the business together. We started it, and with some help, we've managed to nurture the business into something great. But our investors do hold 40% of the company."

Nodding, the bluenette indicated with his hands for Kaho to continue.

"Well, the thing is... and I can't stress how much they like you – they do! – but... this business with the case and the Mayor and his son... they want you to resign." Sitting forward, leaning on her desk with her arms crossed, she waited for the reaction she just knew he would give, trying not to look guilty.

"What? Resign? Kaho-"

"I know! I know. I spoke with them all and I've managed to stress how important you are to the company – you _do_ own 30% of it after all – but I agree that you should take a step back. So that's what we all want you to do," Kaho put up a hand to stop him from interrupting her.

"And how do I do that? Take a step back?" He asked coolly.

"Take a break," she replied simply.

"A break?" Eriol blinked. _This must be what Déjà Vu feels like_, he thought.

"Only for a while! You could call it a long holiday. Just until the case is resolved," she tried to reassure him, soothing her words and giving him a slight, apologetic smile.

"A holiday? Okay... and what about my models? Sakura? Who will run the departments and my half of the agency in my absence?" He offered genuinely interested in who would replace him, if only temporarily.

"You."

"Me? How? You just asked me to take a break," he pointed out bluntly, beginning to feel frustrated despite his cool demeanour.

"You won't actually be on the premises and you won't go to any shoots or shows – one of the assistants will do that, or I can if need be – but you can still do everything else provided that it gets sent to your home office and it's all under the radar," she shrugged. The light was currently shining onto his glasses in a manner in which she could no longer see his eyes, and his cool expression gave her nothing to go on as to his reaction. He was blank, cunning and currently dangerous to both her and the investors. And that was very bad. _Very_ bad.

"I see. Well, I shall just have to go about my business quietly and demurely then. Making sure that no toes are stepped on and pretending that I've done something wrong," he smiled, speaking as though he was merely discussing the weather.

"You _have_ done something wrong," Kaho pointed out sitting back into her chair.

"No I haven't. Speaking the truth isn't wrong, and even if it was, there is nothing legally wrong with what I've said and how I've handled it. The case will be dismissed and that will be the end of it," he said, smile still in place.

"Well... good. Then this shouldn't take too long."

"No. It shouldn't. Now if that's all? Thank you for your time and I hope you know what you're doing," he said, standing up and holding out his hand.

Taking it, Kaho grimaced, nodding. "So do I."

* * *

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, Syaoran wondered just why he had decided to get out of bed that morning. Although, if he really thought about it, there were many times during a day, every day of the week when he felt like that. Why he didn't just quit all of this and take up dancing as a living was beyond him in these moments.

His day had started off as usual, and then he had taken a short amount of time to make an appearance at the morning design show to support both Tomoyo and Sakura before getting back to the office where he had been stuck on calls and walking out of his office to search for one of his sectaries.

"Where _is_ that woman?" he muttered annoyed that Meiling hadn't shown up yet. At first he had thought that she was out with Yue as she had been spending most of her time with him doing her job over the past few weeks, but after checking the schedule he had found that she was actually supposed to be helping him out with the small business that had caused so much trouble for them both. Almost a full month later and they were still having issues. It really did make him want to resign.

Entering his office once more with several files in hand – the Gods and Goddess only knew if he had any of the right ones – he pinched the bridge of his nose before making a calculated decision.

***RING RING RING***

"_Hello? Tsukishiro Yue speaking._"

"Hi, Yue? I'm looking for Meiling. Is she with you by any chance? She's missed work, but the last time that happened it was down to a scheduling error on one of my other sectaries part, so I was just wondering if you've seen her," he asked, politely, yet commanding. He was not about to let the man cover for her if he had ever felt so inclined too. Syaoran seriously didn't think that Yue would, but Meiling had a way with people. Even people like Yue.

"_I spoke with her yesterday about a possible prospect as I have yet to be pleased with any of her choices thus far – which I cannot stress enough about asking for someone else despite your best assurances – and so I wanted to show her the type of building she was supposed to be helping me look for,_" the silver haired man spoke coldly, but Syaoran knew the man well enough to hear the irritation in his voice.

"I _can_ assure you that Meiling is more than capable. Have you thought that perhaps she is showing you the best of what there is? Maybe the buildings she's show you so far are the only ones available that come anywhere near to what you've asked for," he replied, more than ready to defend his cousin and adoptive sister.

"_Perhaps. Either way we'll see if she understands what it is that I really want_," Yue sighed.

"Yes, we will. So, she _is_ with you then? That's good. I'll just adjust that in the data logs then. Tell her I need her to come back to the office the moment she's finished. I really didn't understand this stupid colour coding system of hers and I'm still not sure if I'm actually looking through the right paperwork," he laughed shaking his head even though the brunette knew that Yue could see him. During their conversation he had flipped through the yellow, green, blue and red folders and he was now moving onto the purple and orange ones. So far, none of them contained the information he had actually been searching for – which meant another trip to Meiling's special cabinet for all things colourful and confusing.

"_Very well then. I'm sure I shall be seeing you soon, so until then, goodbye._"

"Goodbye, Yue. And thank you for your patience," Syaoran smiled before placing the phone back onto his desk. Groaning at the unneeded documents in the purple and orange files, Syaoran stood to make yet another trip to the red eyed woman's desk.

##################################################

Hanging up, Yue looked down both ways of the street and then over the road. Truthfully, he had not only lied to Syaoran but he had also hidden his worry over the woman. If Syaoran did not know where Meiling was – and he had just been about to call the man himself before the brunette had phoned him – and since she had not shown up at their meeting point for almost a full hour, then surely something must have happened.

Yue scowled feeling that he should have paid much more attention to those bruises then he actually had. Pocketing his mobile, the silverette crossed over to the other side of the road and hailed a black taxi. Giving the driver Meiling's address, Yue sat back watching the scenery pass by, hoping that he wasn't too late to help.

##################################################

Slapping the blonde, Meiling ignored the throbbing pain from just above her left brow as she wrenched herself away from Cleon's grip.

"I've said it once, and I feel like I've said it a million times, Cleon: NO!"

Spitting at her, Cleon barely shifted from his position as he grabbed her arm once again. "Did I tell you to slap me? Did I tell you to speak? No! You do what you're told or you're going to get hurt." Breath through his nose for a few moments, he made a visible effort to calm down. "I don't want to hurt you Meiling, but if you keep defying me like this, then I have no choice."

"You _don't_ want to hurt me? You have _no_ choice? Are you insane or just demented? What the hell do you think I'm going to say to that?" She yelled back, ripping herself away from his grip once again. Wiping the spittle off of her cheek, she snarled at him, "Don't get in my way, Cleon. And _never_ threaten me. I'm a dangerous girl when I want to be and you won't ever be able to deal with it, do I make myself clear?"

"Cute. I _do_ love it when you're feisty, but you have to learn to keep it to the bedroom if this is going to work out," the blonde insisted,

"Work out? There isn't anything going on! I _don't_ want you! I HATE you! And I HATE everything about you! So, get out!" Pointing at the door, the red eyed woman felt like killing the man. He had hit her repeatedly and the only reason she hadn't gone to the police yet was because she knew how Syaoran would react and he had enough to deal with at that point in time. Besides, she was a big girl and she could take care of herself.

**BAM!**

Flying straight into the floor, Meiling's hands automatically caught her and spun her so that she was back onto her feet. Her years of martial arts training came in handy in these instances, but they didn't stop the room from spinning or the pain that had bloomed onto her face. Vaguely, she felt a trickle of something tickled her face and lips, and a quick dart of her tongue tasted metal and sweat.

"I said that I didn't want to hurt you, Meiling. But that doesn't mean I won't," Cleon spoke quietly. He actually sounded like he had regretted the action, but since he had done it anyway, Meiling highly doubted it.

"Get stuffed."

This time her body reacted faster than her spinning mind as her hands came up to block his assault and she ended up grabbing his hands and flinging the blonde over her hip, slamming his head and hip onto the floor a split second before the rest of his body followed.

Heaving from the wooden flooring, Cleon gasped as he glared up at the dark haired woman who was just now regaining her footing properly. This was not how he had wanted this discussion to go, and he was certainly not about to give up now.

"Meiling-"

"Miss Li?"

Turning on one foot, Meiling stared in shock and horror as a certain longed haired man casually and gracefully entered her apartment. Yue took one cool look at her, and Cleon still lying prone of the floor with his mouth open and then at the half-wrecked living area before directing his still cool gaze at the red eyed woman.

"Are you having any trouble?" He asked giving no indication to any emotion he may have felt in that moment.

"Oh, you know... just a pest. I'll kill it soon enough," she smiled back. It was only then that she realised that the trickle was blood and that her face must look an absolute mess. Without even glancing at the blonde still lying on her floor, Meiling briskly walked over to the large mirror in the small hallway and viewed the damage. _Syaoran's going to be asking a lot of questions,_ she thought, lightly touching her blooded lip.

"Perhaps I should make sure that the pest does not return. Just to be sure you're rid of it for good. I don't want to turning up late to any of our meetings if this venture is to continue," Yue spoke to her coolly, not moving from his standing place in the living area, cold and dangerous eyes still focusing on the blonde man.

Blinking, Cleon finally registered just what was being said and moved to stand back up. "Now listen here you! I don't know who you are, but-!"

"Quite right. My apologies for the lack of introduction, but I don't usually address rodents and I certainly don't consider addressing them when I find them with someone else," the silverette brushed off turning his attention back to Meiling.

"Syaoran's looking for you. I told him that we were viewing a template for the type of building that I wish to own for the company, so once you've gotten cleaned up that is where we shall go so that you don't make me a liar."

"Thank you, Yue. Huh, I never thought I'd ever say that," the red eyed woman mused smiling almost teary at the man. "What about _him_?"

"I'll sort him out. You go get ready."

"Thanks again." Skipping around the couch so that she would avoid the now fuming blonde man, Meiling dashed into her bedroom, locking the door behind her. She would never admit it, but she had been so relieved when Yue had waltzed in like that that she truly did want to cry. Grabbing a cloth she sat in front of her dresser mirror and began to wipe off the blood.

Ten minutes later she had fixed her make-up up enough to cover the majority of the bruising and her split lip no longer looked so bad, but she was still thinking up a plausible story for her to tell Syaoran when she next saw him. Or perhaps she would text him, then at least, he might not be so shocked and more inclined to believe her.

Leaving her bedroom and taking a quick glance about the living room, Meiling noticed that Yue was the only occupant. "You got rid of him then?"

"Yes, and he shouldn't be troubling you again. If he does _call me_. Or Syaoran, and don't dart out of telling him. He _needs_ to know," Yue said calmly, his eyes betraying his worry.

"I will," she sighed in reply, shoulders slumping slightly. She supposed she'd have to at some point, but that point was entirely up to _her_.

"Good. Now, then. Shall we go view the perfect building?" Holding out an arm to indicate for her to go first she smiled brightly nodding.

"If it's _that_ perfect I could negotiate for you to buy it and provide the current residents with a new building," she suggested, laughing as lightly as she could.

"Don't even thing about getting out of this so easily. I want my _own_ version, thank you."

"Okay, I was only saying," she grinned, locking the front door once they had both walked through.

* * *

Wondering why he was even bothering anymore, Syaoran found himself in front of the latest _Cirque du Crepuscule_ warehouse-turned-studio and feeling for all the world like an idiot. Eriol was the only one who knew that he had the Semi-Finals today and he had barely practiced for it. Since his job at the club had been shot, he had made less and less time to actually dance and the brunette felt like he was certainly going to flunk out. And he had _never_ flunked out of anything before.

Gulping as discreetly as he could, he entered the building to find a small reception directly across from the entryway and that the interior was definitely a few steps up from the first warehouse.

"Can I help you?" the man behind the reception desk asked politely.

"Yes, I'm here for the Semi-Finals," he replied smiling as best he could.

"Ah, yes! Just sign into the book and then head down the right hand corridor. You'll want Room S408, it's just at the end on the left. Congratulations for getting to this stage by the way, I heard that it's pretty tough this year," the man smiled indicating the book on top of the counter.

"Thanks, and yeah, it is pretty tough."

Following the directions, Syaoran politely knocked on the door before entering and immediately seeing the three other dancers that had been with him in the Quarter-Finals plus ten more dance acts. It was slightly disturbing to see the salsa-couple dressed in equally florescent clothing which left almost nothing to the imagination, but then Syaoran had to remind himself just what he had picked out to wear for the competition.

Dressed in a short sleeved, forest green shirt with bronze and gold printed leaves and a slightly darker shade of forest green three-quarters with the leaf print continued along with wood-brown boots and a leaf-patterned hair ornament, Syaoran realised that he stood out himself.

Moving to the back of the room, he dumped his bag next to the others and joined other single dancers in stretching out with the ballet poles along a wall filled with full length mirrors.

"Hello!" A young woman smiled, adding pressure to her leg which was stretched out onto the beam.

"Hi," he replied smiling back as he began his own exercises.

"My names Matsumoto Maki. Is this your first year competing?" She introduced herself. She was actually quite pleasant looking despite being clearly in her mid-forties, and her soft smile reminded Syaoran of his elder sisters.

"Hi! I'm Gypsy, it's nice to meet you, and yes, this is my first year. Is it yours?" He smiled right back.

"Gypsy? That's unusual. Yes, it's my first year too," she said, letting her happiness shine through. She seemed like a gentle woman and Gypsy wondered if he might have found a friend in this competition.

"Well, we'll just have to help each other then," he answered, holding out a hand as she stood upright.

"I'd like that, thank you."

"Okay, everyone! We're starting now!" A woman dressed in business dress yelled before she took her place behind a wooden desk next to four other people dressed in a similar fashion.

"Good luck!" Maki whispered.

"Good luck to you too," he whispered back, both smiling at each other.

* * *

"I need your help," Cleon spoke tartly into his mobile, glaring at everything and anything within his line of sight.

"_What do you need help with?_"

"I need you to help me get rid of someone," the blonde practically snarled.

"_Sure! Just give me a name and place._"

"Thanks. His name's Tsukishiro Yue, and he lives at 207A Kirkby Lane, you know the place, yeah?"

"_Yeah, consider it done._"

"Thanks," Cleon smiled, sitting back as he lifted his cup of coffee to his lips.

"_No problem._"

* * *

**Notes:**

¹I've made this company up, so if there is a company named that, then this is no relation.

²This is Eriol's company name. Yes, it's not original, but it works.

**BroodingDarkness:** Oooh! And the drama continues! Please review! Thank you!


	17. Part 15

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP NOR DO I OWN THE SONG 'GYPSY' BY SHAKIRA

**BroodingDarkness:** Sorry for the long time between updates. Bad things just seem to keep happening to me! Apparently I have a ganglion in my right hand so I've been banned from using it for a while, but my doctors assured me that I'll be fit and ready to roll soon. Hopefully this means that I can get this fic finished soon! Thanks for keeping with me!

**Review Replies:**

**JBubbles:** Yes! I love putting Yue in tight situations, his reactions (in my head at least) are just hilarious! Thanks for reviewing!

**SanguisRebeus:** Yeah, I quite like her too. I don't know why she wasn't in the manga, she was great for character development! Anyways, thank you so much for reviewing!

**A big Thank you to all of my reviewers as they always make my day!**

**Warning:** Mentions of violence and sexual content.

"Blah blah blah" is speech  
"_Blah blah blah_" is the person talking on the other end of the phone  
####### is a time cut, but with the same people at the same place

**Gypsy Dance  
**by Brooding Darkness

**Part 15**

Hand to her head, Tomoyo slowly lowered herself into the dark plush chair in her office at _Dark Angel Fashions_ relieved that her first week working with _Clow Reed_ had gone extremely well. Now that she had a few minutes to think to herself before the next day's work had to begin – with lots of documentation and financial bursaries to boot – the young dark haired woman fell into the cushioned seat and wondered at the pain in her temple.

She was sure that she had had this headache – or migraine, as it seemed to have become – for well over a month, if not longer. Scowling, Tomoyo rummaged through her skirt pockets looking for her favourite little bottle of ibuprofen and paracetamol. Shaking it slightly, she realised with a slight horror that the bottle was almost empty.

And it was only in the back of her mind that she wondered if she was horrified at how many she had taken since the bottle had been full that very morning, or at the fact that the bottle was almost empty and that meant that she had to be careful until she could get her hands of some more.

Sighing, she popped three more, taking a gulp of her tea to swallow them down and rubbing circles into her temple hoping that the pain would leave soon. Leaning back, Tomoyo sank slowly into unconsciousness.

**~*~*~'Cause I'm a gypsy, are you coming with me?~*~*~**

Yue had never thought too deeply about how he came across to other people, and he had never thought too deeply – if at all – about how his reactions impacted on people so long as it wasn't his twin brother.

Now, the silver haired man was wishing he had at least a little outlook on his actions before he made them.

His back hit the wall to one side of a currently closed takeaway store, and he grunted at the impact, reflexively bracing himself for the next punch. It came an instant later, landing squarely on his jaw and sending his head back into the wall. Grunting once more, Yue glared hard at the five men in front of him.

One of the men – a dark haired Italian looking man with greased back hair – was keeping post near the entrance to the alley where he had been dragged in off of the street from.

The other four men had then decided to take turns in beating him up. At first the silverette had decided to just let them hit him one time each, figuring that that would be enough to get rid of them. Alas, it had merely made him easy prey in their minds as they had grinned cruelly to one another, cracking various bones and readying themselves for their next assault.

Of course after the first four hits and with the realisation that the four men were only just getting started, Yue decided to fight back. Of course that was the theory: in practicality he had barely been able to fend them off. Obviously these four men had been excessively trained in martial arts and he was hard pressed to take them down.

Still, Yue pushed himself off of the wall, raising his left arm to fend off another punch the silverette pushed the momentum and the punch to one side and used his left hand to punch the first assailant in the nose. This forced the first assailant to be knocked unconscious with a bloody nose, and if not for his currently heightened instincts due to the adrenaline currently pumping around his body, Yue would have missed the kick aimed at his left side.

As it was, Yue shifted his weight just enough that the impact wasn't as painful or as bad as it could have potentially been, and he grabbed the leg with his now free hands, dragging the second assailant and slamming him into the wall in which the silverette had just been flung against himself mere moments before.

Not waiting a second, Yue aimed his own kick at the third assailant, grabbing the fourth's chest by his shirt and spinning in a half circle so that the fourth was used as a barrier against the third when the third returned the kick. Pushing the fourth to the ground, Yue dodged to one side as the third swerved a jab and danced around the fourth so that the two were kept in each other's sight.

Standing up, the second held himself against one wall, sneering as he brushed blood off of the curve of his mouth. Growling slightly, he flew at the silverette only to be punched in the gut and kneed in his groin. Falling down, the second assailant clutched at himself, gasping for breath,

Satisfied that the second assailant wasn't going to be rejoining the fight anytime soon, Yue focused the rest of his attention onto the other two men.

The other two men were, of course, much more hesitant about attacking the silverette as the man had remained both composed and expert in his movements. The silver eyed man was obviously just as accomplished if not more so than they were, put together.

The rest of the fight passed fairly quickly, with Yue dispatching the two men effectively. By this point the fifth man had long since ran off leaving the silverette stood in a dark alleyway in the middle of the afternoon with one unconscious man and three injured men on the ground. Grimacing inwardly, the silver eyed man brushed himself off almost casually, wiping away as much of the blood and dirt from his face and clothes before walking coolly out and back onto the street.

This attack would not be far from his mind, and he was going to do everything in his power to find the one behind this – not that he didn't have a good idea already – and make them pay.

**~*~*~I might steal your clothes and wear them if they fit me~*~*~**

Sighing, Eriol pushed himself lightly so that the computer desk chair he was currently occupying spun slightly in a half circle, before the bluenette pushed himself back the way he went, and then he repeated the process. Working from home was so boring for him, and even though it was necessary work, he couldn't help but wonder when he could finally enter his work office again.

***RING RING RING RING***

"Hello? Eriol Hiiragizawa speaking." Coming to a rest from all the spinning, Eriol tried to smile into the phone, hoping that the person at the other end of the line wouldn't pick up on his boredom.

"_Hello, Mr. Hiiragizawa? This is Jessica O'Hara, Mayor Marybury's Personal Assistant,_" a woman's voice spoke clearly and confidently down the line.

"Hello, Ms. O'Hara. What can I do for you?" He politely replied, coming to a stop and sitting up properly in his chair. Any thoughts of boredom were immediately removed from his mind as it went straight to the case.

"_I would like to speak to you in reference to the case... however..._" The hesitation didn't go unnoticed, and the confidence that she had started the call with was almost completely gone now.

"However?"

"_However, I wish to speak to you from my own personal view, not the Mayors._"

"I understand. Please continue."

"_...Well, Nathan is a friend of mine since I work with his father so closely, and I'm aware of his own view on this case. He wished to drop the whole thing, except that we both know that his father, the Mayor, won't. Or at least not so easily,_" she spoke, sighing slightly. It was clear that she respected her superior, but she didn't really share his views to their entirety.

"That's reassuring. And I am aware that Nathan doesn't want this case to progress any further, as indeed _I_ do not, however, I doubt that Mayor Marbury will let the case drop just like that," he replied. Leaning back in his seat, Eriol crossed his legs and let a light frown mark his features as he tried to think of a way to end the lawsuit without having to go through his current idea.

"_There might be a way. But it won't be easy, and you'll have to give something up in return_," she said almost hopefully.

"That sounds promising, although it does depend on what you wish me to 'give up'. I have a plan of my own, but it will take a little longer to get to and the Mayor may not like the backlash," Eriol admitted. It was only fair really, he thought, as she was more than willing to work with him to solve the problem.

"_Well, it's a start. Can you come down to the Mayor's office in two hours?_"

"I do believe I can find the time for that, yes." He had too much time in his opinion.

"_Good. Well, then I'll see you there, Mr. Hiiragizawa._"

"And you Ms. O'Hara. Goodbye for now."

"_Goodbye._"

Putting the phone back onto his desk, Eriol wondered at what he was supposed to do at the Mayor's office.

##################################################

Once again sat in that nicely decorated meeting room, Eriol wondered if perhaps he should have called his lawyer, Philip, before coming here. He had initially agreed to come due to a common interest with Ms. O'Hara – namely, Nathan – but now that he was here, he wasn't quite sure how this would work out legally. Maybe he should've made a call to Syaoran as well.

"Thank you for meeting me here," O'Hara spoke, walking elegantly into the room. Standing up to shake her hand, he smiled his infamous Cheshire Cat smile at her.

"It's a pleasure, although I am quite curious as to what you may be up to," he replied.

Indicating for the two of them to take a seat, O'Hara placed a plain brown file onto the table in front of the bluenette. "This is a legal agreement which will end the trial right now."

"Oh? And what exactly does it entail?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Feel free to take it to your lawyer, if you like," she replied shrugging. "It only states that no further action will be taken if you swear never to mention the Marbury family in public again."

Picking up the folder, Eriol casually opened it up and flipped through the document inside. Mildly appalled – he had half expected this – the bluenette carefully placed the folder back onto the table top before addressing the main issue with it.

"It also forbids me from having any contact whatsoever with the Marbury family – including my good friend Nathan – on pain of arrest," he stated, folding his arms and letting the light reflect on his glasses in a way he knew made him unreadable.

"Nathan would still be your friend... you just won't be able to see him socially," she countered.

"Or at all if that document is anything to go off of. Not to mention the arrest. Why would I sign anything which may one day convict me when I haven't done anything wrong now? No Ms. O'Hara, I'm afraid I am going to have to refuse the offer; although I want to make it known that I am grateful for the offer made today. Thank you for your time, and I'm sure that I'll see you in court soon." Standing, he nodded to her before making his way to the door.

"Wait! Please! This is the best I can do right now," she insisted.

"Of course it is. Mayor Marbury won't budge on his position and as a clever woman you know that the case won't hold up in court, and that the Mayor's position will drop because of all of the bad publicity surrounding the case which he is sure to lose. If anything, the dismissal of the case – which will happen, I assure you – will make sure that Mayor Marbury will not be elected again. Is that not it, Ms. O'Hara?"

Nodding seriously, O'Hara wondered at the manager's ability to remain calm and collected while logically explaining the current situation. Almost as though he was a lawyer himself.

"Have you ever been to Law School, Mr. Hiiragizawa?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"No, Ms. O'Hara, I attended a local Business School. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do. Thank you for your time once again," nodding to her, he quickly left.

**~*~*~Never made agreements, just like a gypsy~*~*~**

Rocking back and forth on her high heels, Meiling chewed on the inside of her cheek while letting her thoughts drift off to places she usually didn't consider. She wanted to tell Syaoran everything that had happened, but since Yue had interrupted her fight with Cleon, she had yet to see the blonde man, so she was going to let things simmer for a while and see where they went. She also felt that she needed some time off work but at the same time she wanted to throw herself into her work and get things done.

"Meiling!"

Coming back to the moment, the red eyed beauty smiled brightly at the green eyed model who was rushing over to her. Cheeks bright from the cold weather and the slight run to her, Sakura looked every bit the model she was famous for.

"You didn't have to run, you know," she smiled letting the brunette catch her breath.

"I know, but it's just been so long since we've done anything together that I got a little excited," she giggled, regaining her composure. Nodding, the black haired woman grinned back before getting a wicked twinkle in her eyes.

"So, where shall we start? Shoes or bags?"

Blinking, Sakura spoke at the same time as he old friend.

"Shoes."

##################################################

Collapsing into the cafe chairs, the two women giggled at the amount of bags they placed by their feet.

"I can't believe you convinced me to buy that many shoes!" Sakura laughed, stretching her legs out.

"I can't believe you question it! A girl can _never_ have too many shoes," Meiling replied as seriously as she could, receiving a laugh in return.

"I missed this," the model said.

"Me too."

Motioning for a waiter to come over, the two asked for a hot tea each and some teacakes (the current kind, not the marshmallow kind) to dip into them.

"So, how are things between you and Tomoyo going?" Meiling asked.

"Great! I can't believe how lucky I am to have her. Although I am worried. She's overworking herself too much and yet she won't relax. I even had a bit of a chill this morning," she answered with a light frown.

"A chill? Like the ones you used to have? The ones that _always_ came true?" The red eyed woman queried.

"Yeah."

"Have you tried calling her? Or trying to contact her at all?" Receiving a shake of a head in reply, Meiling continued. "Why not?! Call her now! You're always right about those 'feelings'. Syaoran always is too, that's why it's so hard to get anything past the two of you."

"You think I should? I don't want to disturb her while she's working."

"I would. And if she's fine then at least you know, and she knows you care," the other woman reasoned.

"That's true. Still..."

"Sakura. I'm not kidding. When you get a chill, that usually means something's wrong," Meiling spoke sternly. She was adamant that they shouldn't ignore the model's feeling. Too many times in the past they had done that, and things had never gone well.

"Alright. I'll just make a quick call then." Worried now, Sakura took out her mobile and typed out her girlfriend's number from memory.

**~*~*~And I won't back down 'cause life's already bit me ~*~*~**

The second part of the Semi-Finals of the _Cirque du Crepscule_ was well underway, and it had taken a bit of a run and a long taxi ride to get to the warehouse on time. Having paid the fee, Gypsy quickly slipped into the studio, keeping himself to one wall and slipping in with the other contestants. After a few seconds of searching, he spotted Maki and smiled as she spotted him. She motioned for him to take a seat next to her and he gratefully slid down next to her.

"Have I missed anything?" He whispered.

"Not yet. I think they're still getting themselves together," she replied smiling brightly. Nodding in relief, Gypsy took a quick look at the other contestants in the room.

The weird salsa couple were still present – clad in their usual brightly coloured attire – as were two other dancers from the previous round. A few dancers and dancing couples that he had never seen before were also present, so Gypsy assumed that this would be the last Semi-Final before the Finals. Or at least he hoped so.

"Maybe we should get to know them," Maki suggested, indicating the fluorescent clad couple.

"Maybe. I think we might be seeing each other in the Finals if we get through," he nodded, relying.

"Attention! Everyone, please! Thank you!"

The room went silent as the three judges stood to one side and the MC clapped her hands to gain the room's undivided attention. "Thank you. Now, this is the last round before the Final's so make it count. We are going to do this a little differently today. We would like you to perform your own routine, and then you'll be shown a routine by our very own instructor before finally dancing to the music that we will set you. And no, I'm afraid that you will not have any time to prepare for the final music. Now, to begin with, we will call out your number one by one and you can perform your prepared routine. So, let's begin! Number 1. Please take the stage."

The first dance stood handing over a disc with their chosen music on and the first dance began. The cycle continued until every contestant had danced, with only a few mistakes having been made. Gypsy was just thankful that Maki and himself hadn't made any of the mistakes – and he noticed that the salsa couple also hadn't.

Standing up and taking the floor once more, the MC smiled at them all before speaking. "Well, done! That was excellent! We'll take a short ten minute break here before I introduce you to our Instructor who will take you through the next routine – which you will all perform together." With that the MC wandered off.

"You were amazing!" Maki said, looking at Gypsy in awe.

"You think so?" He blushed back, rubbing the back of his neck. "I thought that you were better. Have you done any training?"

Blushing right back Maki nodded lightly. "I went to ballet school when I was much younger. I kept at it at home, but this is the first time I've performed it in front of people since."

"Well, you seem like a professional to me. I'm actually a little envious," he admitted.

"Not as envious as I am of your wardrobe. Where do you get your clothes from?" She asked glancing at his current attire.

Today he had come dressed in yet another of Tomoyo's creations. A black shoulder-less gypsy-style top with two thin bands wrapped around each of his arms were adorned with small silver stars, and black shorts with two belts with silver buckles to match the stars on his shirt completed the look. It was usual, yet tasteful and yet another of the designers creations that she had never seen him wear – but he had worn it once in the club and it had received a nice review, if not as nice as his other more revealing costumes.

"A friend of mine makes them. She likes designing things for people, even if they don't want her to," he answered smiling at the thought of his friend. He had worried a little about her that morning as he had a sudden chill about her. He had brushed it off though in favour of getting ready for the competition. She would be his first call when he was done today. "I could ask her if she'll make something for you when she gets the time, if you like?"

"Oh, no! I wouldn't want to be a bother!"

"I'm sure it won't be a bother for her. But you may have to wait a while, she's been pretty tired lately," he explained.

"No, no! It's alright, really. I just think that you always look great," she smiled at him, grinning wider when she saw his blush. "Now, I wonder what sort of routine they'll want us to do?"

**~*~*~And I won't cry, I'm too young to die if you're gonna quit me~*~*~**

Mumbling slightly, Tomoyo raised her head, not realising when she had set it down on her crossed arms onto her desk. She knew that she had been tired recently, but she hadn't realised that she had been _that_ tired.

***BBBRRRRBBBBRRRR***

Finally registering what it was that had awoken her, the amethyst eyed woman grabbed her mobile off of her desk and clicked the answer button.

"Hello?"

"_Tomoyo? It's Sakura, are you okay?"_

"Oh, Sakura! I'm fine thank you, why?" She asked rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Glancing at the clock, she realised with horror that she had slept for nearly four and a half hours. Now she was never going to finish on time!

"_I've tried calling you three times already. Are you sure you're alright?_" The concerned voice made the designer smile. Over the time they had gotten to know each other, Tomoyo had noticed that Sakura rarely put herself first. And this time was no different.

"I'm fine really! I just have my phone on vibrate so I didn't hear it go off. I'm sorry," she apologised feeling slightly guilty over the half-lie.

"_Oh! That's a relief! Are you still working? Meiling and I are out having drinks if you want to join us?_"

"No, no, that's alright, thank you! I have a lot of work to do, although I might take up the offer later on if that's alright?" She smiled relieved and sad at the same time.

"_Of course! I'll come pick you up later! And- Meiling _stop_ sniggering! Gosh, you're a pain!"_

"Hmm?"

"_Sorry, Meiling's making some rather... err... rude comments about what 'later' means_."

"Well, you can tell I said it will be much more graphic and better," Tomoyo snickered right back.

"_Hoe! Tomoyo! You two are as bad as each other! And Syaoran calls me the hentai!_"

"Actually, he calls the three of us hentai's, and rightfully so!"

"_Meiling wants me to tell you she said 'Damn right',_" the model sighed into the phone. Giggling, Tomoyo could just imagine the looks on the other two women's faces as the conversation continued.

**~*~*~'Cause I'm a Gypsy~*~*~**

**Brooding Darkness:** Well, there you have it! I'm almost finished and I'll try to get the next chapter up soon! Possibly just another chapter or two to go plush the epilogue. Anyways thank you for reading and please review! Flames are just as welcome and great reviews! Thank you!


	18. Part 16

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP. I ALSO DO NOT OWN THE SONG 'GYPSY' BY SHAKIRA

**BroodingDarkness:** The song being used to break up the parts is pretty appropriate which is why I used it. Anyways, thanks for sticking with me!

This one's a bit of a slow starter, but it's setting up for the final chapter and then the epilogue.

**Review Replies:**

**JBubbles:** Awww! Don't worry too much about Tomoyo. Yet. And Yue is always kicking but! Thank you so much for reviewing!

**SanguisRubeus:** Thank you so much! It's all coming together now, so hopefully it'll all be underway soon! Thank you again!

**A big Thank you to all of my reviewers as they always make my day!**

**Warning:** Mentions of violence and sexual content.

"Blah blah blah" is speech  
"_Blah blah blah_" is the person talking on the other end of the phone  
####### is a time cut, but with the same people _usually_ at the same place  
/_Blah blah blah_/ is thoughts  
/*_Blah blah blah*_/ is a text message

**Gypsy Dance  
**by Brooding Darkness

**Part 16**

"Hello?"

"_Hi, this is Alice calling from the _Cirque du Crepuscule_. I'm just going to make this a quick call so I'll get right to it: You're through to the Final Round! Congratulations!_"

"Oh! Err...Thank you!...Thanks." Blinking down at the document he had just been reading, Syaoran wasn't quite sure how to react. On the one hand he was happy and he wanted to show it, but on the other hand, he was at work and although he was tucked away in his office, he wanted to keep up his appearance of being the cold-hearted boss his employees was used to. "That's great! So, what happens now?"

"_Well, the Final starts in two days and it'll be televised on the local station on Saturday at 19:30 – which is Prime Time for a show like this. It's brilliant really! We'll start the show with information cards so that the audience can catch up on who you all are and what you all do- Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean to babble! You need to be here for 12:00 prompt so that we can take you through everything that needs to be done, do you understand?_" She babbled happily.

"12:00 exactly, so that the show can go live at 19:30 on Saturday. Got it. Anything else?"

"_Just bring your own costumes and make sure that you remember three of your previously shown routines and have three more at the ready. Anything else will be shown and told to you once you get to the studio. We'll email you the rest of the details and Gook Luck!_"

"Thank you."

**_Click!_**

"Hmmm." Leaning back in his chair, Syaoran chewed on the inside of his cheek. He hadn't really focused on the _Live-On-TV_ aspect of the competition so far – in fact it had completely left his mind until the call. He was happy, but still weary. Damn that Hiiragizawa! He was always complicating his life!

**_*RING RING RING RING*_**

"Hello?" The CEO sighed into the phone's receiver.

"_Maa Maa, Syaoran, you sound exhausted._"

"Eriol? What are you, psychic?" Sitting up and leaning onto his desk, the brunette's eyes widened slightly at the person on the other end of the line.

"_Why? Were you thinking about me? How sweet,_" Eriol teased. Scowling, Syaoran could practically see that annoying Cheshire Cat smile. "_What were you thinking about me? Was I clothed in your thoughts?_"

"Don't be a hentai, Hiiragizawa. And I was thinking just how much of a nuisance you are for putting me into a competition where the _Final_ is a _Live Broadcast_!"

"_You got through to the final? That's wonderful! Let's celebrate!_"

"Celebrate? With your case and my status?" Thinking for a moment, Syaoran nodded to himself. "We'll have dinner and a drink at mine if we have to celebrate."

"_We don't have to celebrate at all, if you don't want to,_" the bluenette pointed out, trying not to let his disappointment be heard.

"No, I _want_ to celebrate, we should just keep it out of the public eye right now, though."

"_Alright, then. Yours, tonight._"

"Tonight."

################################################## 

Slamming the brunette against the wall and kicking the door closed behind him, Eriol smashed his lips to Syaoran's enjoying the little moan that the brunette let out. Pressing his hips into the slightly shorter mans, Eriol grabbed the others hips and began steering them through the small hallway and into the living area.

Pulling back slightly to catch his breath, Syaoran smiling lightly. "And here I thought we were on a break," he chuckled before gasping as the bluenette's lips descended to his neck. Arching into the touch, the dancer let his hands roam under the others loosened shirt.

"Damn the break. I want you. Now."

"Okay," Syaoran replied breathlessly. "Bedroom."

Smirking, Eriol dragged the other man as quickly as possible into the brunette's bedroom.

**~*~*~'Cause I'm a Gypsy~*~*~**

The next day passed quickly for Syaoran, as he finished as much paperwork as possible and arranged with an exhausted Tomoyo – who he is definitely sending on a fully paid vacation when the show is finally done – to make Gypsy a mask from him to wear while he dances on live TV. And the day after that, Syaoran spent half the day in his studio practicing his routines for the show the next day and the second half of the day in his office sorting through the documents for the upcoming weekend.

"Package~!" Meiling sing-songed as she dumped the small parcel unceremoniously onto his desk and on top on the current set of sales reports for the German Branch.

"Thank you," he smiled back. Syaoran had noticed a definite improvement over the past few days in his cousin's behaviour. He didn't know if it was personal or work related – possibly she had 'treated' herself to yet another pair of shoes – but he wasn't about to pry if she was actually going to be nice to him for a change.

"I'm always nice," the red eyed woman huffed, leaning casually against his desk.

"How did you-? Nevermind. Was there a sending card?"

"It was written all over your face, and yes, there was. Tomoyo sent it. What is it?"

"None of your business. Don't you have work to be getting on with?" He asked, raising one eyebrow in amusement.

"Humph! Fine!" Winking, she slid easily off of his desk and back out the door, leaving it slight ajar. /_The nosey thing._/

Carefully tearing away the paper covered item, a beautiful mask made of silk and lace fell onto his desk. The mask curved around the eyes in a vixen-like manner and the brunette knew that the outer curves of the mask would match the look when worn. Two black silk ribbons fell on each side of the mask, with a delicate black lace over a pearl white silken undercover. The simplistic beauty of the piece left him breathless for a few moments.

How Tomoyo had been able to make this along with everything else she had to do in a day alone... Maybe he had asked a little too much... Or she had already had it in storage for him somewhere and she had dug it out just for this weekend – which was the most likely scenario.

Picking up the phone with a smile, Syaoran knew exactly what outfit he was going to wear the next day.

#################################################

The studio was busy, and Syaoran was grateful that he had thought ahead and wore a plain black mask as there were bound to be one or two people here who might have recognised him. He was given his own changing area – it would be hard pressed to be called a room, since it was more like a cordoned off area with a load of thick curtains separating each dancer's area from the next – and was directed to the main stage after leaving his several changes of clothes hung up on a rail.

Stepping onto the large stage, Syaoran noticed that several of the other dancers were being spoken to by various stage hands. It only took him a moment to spot Maki and he immediately made his way over to her with a soft smile on his face.

"Nervous?" he asked.

"Oh! Yes. Aren't you?" She smiled back, wringing her hands.

"Yes. But I'm more nervous that I'm going to fall flat on my face during a live performance."

"Oh, no! Please don't put those sorts of ideas into my head!" the dark haired woman panicked.

"Sorry! I meant me! You're going to be just fine, Maki. I mean you always are," he consoled her, holding his hands out in what he hoped was a calming effect.

#################################################

"Thank you, sorry, thank you," Eriol murmered as he made his way to his seat in the audience. It was a great view really, and Eriol couldn't help wondering if Syaoran would dance like he did in the club before he had been fired. Smirking to himself at the thought, he sent a last minute text message to his boyfriend eternally grateful that they were no longer on a break.

#################################################

_*Buzzzz Buzzzz Buzzzz*_

Clicking a button on his mobile, Syaoran smiled happily as he read the borderline filthy message. It was at once irritating and relieving to know that Eriol was in the audience watching. And he half-hoped that the bluenette would recall his first outfit.

"Alright, ready yourselves, people! We're going live soon and you need to finish your stretches if you haven't already done them. We're hoping for no injuries tonight! Thank you!" Called out one of the technicians.

Shoving his phone into one of his bags, Syaoran adjusted his white and black lace mask before stepping out with the rest of the dancers.

"Woah! You look amazing!" Maki blushed.

"So do you," he smiled back, blushing slightly himself at the compliment.

**~*~*~Are you coming with me?~*~*~**

Migraine in full on mode, Tomoyo wondered just _why_ she had chosen _this_ profession. Yes, she had always enjoyed making clothes and she was good at it. But everyone knew that making your hobby your work would only result in making you hate the hobby in the end. So why had she chosen her hobby as her job?

Only Hell truly knew.

"Ow." Rubbing her temples, the amethyst eyed woman squinted her way to a bottle of water on her textile desk. Textiles. How she had begun to loathe them with a fiery passion since she had started this seasons fashion line.

Stumbling in her seat slightly, she grasped onto the edge of the desk with both hands, world spinning with a great speed. Trying to steady herself, she held her head in one hand while her other stayed clutching to the benches edge.

Five seconds later her vision went black and with a dull thud, her unconscious body fell to the studio floor.

**~*~*~I might steal your clothes and wear them if they fit me~*~*~**

Groaning inwardly, Yamazaki couldn't believe that he had landed this job. A simple joke and a bad story involving both his and his editor's wife had somehow managed to land him the fashion column. So, here he was, at his wife and her friends catwalk show. The famous London Fashion Show which involved both _Dark Angel Fashions_ and _Clow Reed_ among a number of other fashion companies and designers which were famous all over and around the globe.

Sat next to him the papers freelance photographer, Akizuki Nakuru, was trying hard to hold in her squeals of joy at the outfits and styles currently waltzing down the London Fashion Show's catwalk. She was rocking lightly to the music and taking pictures here and there.

How she had won prizes for her photography work or even how she managed to get such fantastic photos were beyond his knowing, but Yamazaki was grateful that she knew about the gowns and suits walking the stage.

Watching a particularly beautiful brunette woman walk down the catwalk dressed in a sleek green dress, matching stilettos and a hat made of lily's, Yamazaki beamed up at his wife wondering if he could get her in private later on in that particular gown.

Yes, he was one of Syaoran's completely hentai friends. And looking at the lovely vision his wife was currently making, he wasn't going to amend that any time soon.

It took him a few moments after Chiharu had left the catwalk that he realised Sakura had stepped onto it. She was _very_ prettily dressed in a delicate blue ensemble and he smiled up at her in support as this was her first big gig of assorts since she had been outed.

Winking back at him, Sakura smiled brightly at the audience every bit the confidence she had become famous for.

**~*~*~Never made agreements~*~*~**

Seething through his nose, Yue tried not to grit his teeth as he watched the numbers in the elevator change from Floor 5 to Floor 6. The last straw had been broken for him.

He had received a silent call from who-knows-who and where, along with several badly written letters which had been shoved through his letterbox. Those he had dealt with just fine, the call didn't bother him. He was one of the coldest and most emotionally unavailable people in the known world, but when a sobbing Li Meiling had shown up on his doorstep with a box holding a dead kitten, a line had been crossed.

_*DING!*_

"Finally," Yue muttered darkly as the doors opened and he stepped out of the small space. Making his way down the hall the silverette passed a number of doors before coming up to the one he had only just recently visited.

Knocking twice sharply, Yue waited as he heard footsteps approaching from the other side of the door before the distinct clicking of a lock being pulled back.

"Oh, you," Cleon sneered.

"Yes. Me. Let's talk," Yue stated, voice full of ice.

**~*~*~Just like a gypsy~*~*~**

"Ms. Daidouji? Ms. Daidouji? Are you in here?" Laura asked, letting her armful of folded cloth and rolls of sugar-paper fall to the desk nearest to her. "Ms. Daidouji? I have the rest of the materials you asked for."

Scowling in confusion, Laura sighed through her nose with her hands on her hips for a few moments before making her way to the connecting storeroom. Passing one of the back working benches something strange caught her eye. Stopping and taking one step back, her eyes widened as she noticed a set of black-pumped shoes attached to a pair of smooth pale legs.

"Oh my God!"

Rushing over to the unconscious body of her boss, Laura barely took in the pale complexion, ruffled clothes and bleeding nose as she dialled 999 for an ambulance.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God! Please wake up! Please wake up-Hi! Yes! My boss is unconscious on the studio floor..."

**~*~*~I won't back down 'cause life's already bit me~*~*~**

Wringing his hands in nervousness, Syaoran let Gypsy take over. Almost instantly the brunette stopped shifting his weight and his nerves became steel. This is what Gypsy lived for. This is why Gypsy existed. For the spotlight. For this moment in time.

Letting everything else except his delight and excitement go, he felt much better about watching Maki perform on the stage. She was doing wonderfully, moving gracefully along the stage as though the music was a part of her – much as _he_ had always felt when he took to the stage. Glancing beyond the stage from his little place behind the full, thick red curtains Gypsy searched out his boyfriend.

Grinning when his eyes fell on Eriol, he sighed happily at where they had finally ended up. They were no longer on a break. No Ross and Rachael for them. Hooray!

The grin quickly left his face as he watched Eriol quickly stand up and make his way up to the doors marked 'EXIT', putting his phone to one ear. Brow furrowed in worry, the bluenette glanced back at the stage while speaking quietly into the mobile. Reading Eriol's lips the best he could, Syaoran just about managed to catch the words 'Tomoyo', 'hospital' and 'don't know'.

Breath catching in his throat, Gypsy was gone in half a moment and Syaoran was back in charge. Syaoran turned on his heel and rushed to his little changing area grabbing his mobile and checking his texts. He had received only one since the last time he had checked it and it was from Eriol.

_/*Tomoyo's in hospital. I'm heading there right now.*/_

Grabbing his bag, leaving his costumes on the rack, he dashed back to his place behind the curtain and saw that Eriol had already left. He watched Maki for a few seconds longer, then turned and made his way out of the building.

Three minutes later, he was in the car-park running for the ever familiar black Ford Mondeo. Climbing inside the passenger seat, he threw his bag onto the backseat.

"Go!" He ordered.

Pulling away from the car-park, Eriol barely managed to keep himself at the speed limit. "It's okay. She's gonna be okay."

"I knew... I knew something was wrong! I've known something was wrong and I didn't _do_ anything about it!" Syaoran cried.

"We both did. _I_ didn't do anything, either. _Sakura_ didn't do anything. We all knew that she'd been under a lot of pressure lately, and that she hadn't been getting enough sleep. Yet none of us did any about it."

"We should've."

"I know."

Grasping the brunettes hand for a few seconds, Eriol tried to send as much comfort as he could afford through their hands before putting it back onto the wheel.

**~*~*~**** And I won't cry, I'm too young to die ~*~*~**

"Well? What do you want?" Cleon sniped at the silverette.

"Stay away from Meiling."

"Is that it?" The blonde raised one eyebrow in a bored motion. "Because I haven't gone near her since you were last here – uninvited at that."

"If you send her anything else, letters, boxes, silent calls, nasty calls, calls of any kind, letters of any kind, _gifts_ of any kind – I will hunt you down and no matter where you run or hide I will find you and you will wish you had never met me."

"Oooo! I think that's the most you've probably spoken in your entire lifetime, right?" the blonde sneered, his mouth upturning in a snarl1.

"Fortunately you haven't featured and won't be featuring in more than ten minutes of my life. Ten minutes which I won't even remember twenty minutes from now," Yue glared back.

"You know, I don't know you and before last week I didn't even know that you existed. Yet somehow you've barged into my home _twice_, threatened me and then dismissed me in the same sentence. If anyone's being insulted here, it's _me_."

"If you hadn't noticed, yet – I don't care. I don't care about anything or anyone beyond my twin and his happiness. But a line has been crossed with Ms. Li and I'm going to make sure that it never happens again."

"So, you care about your twin, his happiness and _Ms. Li_? If I didn't know better – and honestly, I _don't_ – I'd say that you were in love with her," Cleon smirked, chewing in his bottom lip in what the blonde hoped was knowingly.

"Like you said. You don't know me. At all."

"Well, either way."

Stepping forward, Cleon raised his fist and punched Yue straight in the face.

**~*~*~If you're gonna quit me****~*~*~**

"Sakura! Quick! There's a phone call for you from the hospital."

"What? Why?" Zipping up the lavender skirt for her next outfit, the green eyed model grabbed the cordless phone being handed to her instantly pressing it to her ear. "Yes?"

Back in the audience, Yamazaki was trying his hardest to ignore Nakuru and take some actual notes on the exhibition – although fashion wasn't his forte, he did know how to pick out the smart models from the dumb ones, and it was the only thing keeping him awake besides the woman next to him.

"Hey!"

"What?"

"Kinomoto missed her turn," Nakuru commented, fine brow furrowed.

"What? She did?" Sitting straight up, Yamazaki peered at the men and women crossing the catwalk, making a count of those leaving as well and coming. She _had_ missed her turn. "I wonder..."

"Hey! Where are you going?"

"Backstage. Don't worry! My wife's back there so I can get access," he replied, standing up and forcing his way to the back benches before rushing to the V.I.P area. Flashing a 'spouse badge', as he liked to call it, he barely caught Chiharu and Sakura before they made to leave through the back exit.

"What's happening?" Yamazaki asked in a rush.

"Tomoyo's collapsed, she's at the hospital," Chiharu replied, obviously taking control as Sakura looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"Let's take my car. I'll drive you."

**~*~*~'Cause I'm a Gypsy~*~*~**

**Notes:**

1Imagine Joffrey from 'Game of Thrones'. Gotta love the actor, he's fantastic at it and it's gonna follow him around for the rest of his career.

**BroodingDarkness:** So, things have finally reached a crescendo, and now I'm hoping that the last chapter and the epilogue will step up to all my expectations of this fic. Anyways, thank you for reading and I hope you review. Flames are just as welcome as praise! Thanks!


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